Governor's House and St. Mather's Meeting House on Hollis Street, also looking up George Street, 1762

Governor's House and St. Mather's Meeting House on Hollis Street, also looking up George Street, Dominic Serres, 1762, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia via Wikimedia Commons.

Though French by birth, Dominic Serres was just as thrilled as anyone else with the British victories in Canada. A key component to these victories was Halifax. Established in 1749 in violation of treaties signed with the local native people, Halifax served as a jumping off point for British operations in Canada throughout the French and Indian War. It would continue to be an important base of naval operations in the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812.

Dominic Serres joins other British based artists of the early 1760's in relating the scenes of distant war to their audience. I want to give a special thanks to Troy Wagner, Assistant Registrar at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, for giving me more information about this piece: 'The work is based on a 1758-1759 drawing by Richard Short, British naval officer and topographical draughtsman. A print was made of this painting in 1764 (restrike in 1777). You can find more information about these works, and see images, by using our online catalogue.'

The three clustered on the left of this details wear black stockings and petticoat trousers/slops. Their jackets are of uniform length, but one wears red while the other two wear blue. All three of them wear cocked hats: two of them with the point forward, and the man in red with his reversed. The fellow in red also carried a walking stick, and wears a grey or brown waistcoat. On the far right of this detail is a sailor with slops/petticoat trousers that end right at the knee, a red neckcloth, and blue jacket. The resolution is too low to confidently say anything else about him.

By the cart, a small mess of tars are gathered around what appears to be a naval officer. They too wear blue jackets, cocked hats, and slops/petticoat trousers. It appears that all of them wear red neckcloths. At least two of them carry sticks.

If any of you are aware of higher resolution versions of this image, I would be very grateful!

Firing a Salute, 1770

"Firing a Salute," Dominic Serres, 1770, Yale Center for British Art.

The focus of this piece is the lateen rigged warship in the left of the frame, which fires the titular salute. Our focus is on that of the men gathered around the sloops huddled to the right.

If I were to guess, I would wager that the men in the boats are fishermen. They all wear short brimmed round hats or caps, and most are in shirtsleeves. It appears that a few wear jackets or coats, but the only lower garment in view is that worn by the fellow wading in the shallow water.

Along with his short brimmed hat and plain shirt, it appears that he wears a waistcoat tucked into his breeches. Either that or Serres has exaggerated the lines of his shirt's armscye. The man does not wears slops nor trousers, but a pair of plain, dark breeches.

Foudroyant and Pégase entering Portsmouth Harbour, 1782

Foudroyant and Pégase entering Portsmouth Harbour, 1782, Dominic Serres, 1782, Google Art.

In late April, 1782, British and French squadrons engaged in the Battle of Ushant. This was, in fact, the third Battle of Ushant in the American Revolutionary War. As part of the action, the 80 gun HMS Foudroyant, Captain Jervis, pursued the French 74 gun Pégase, pounding her with punishing broadsides before boarding her and compelling the French ship to surrender. Jervis was wounded in the action and knighted for his leadership and heroism.

The scene Serres depicts here is not one of the violent action or the heroics of the crew. It is a calm scene depicting the seized French vessel being towed into port. Her topmasts are gone, and a close look at her sides shows her riddled with holes. Above the white flag of the French flies the King's Colors.

A small gathering of boats swarm around the men-of-war to welcome them to Portsmouth. It is difficult to differentiate between watermen and sailors among the various boats.

Certainly these oarsmen are naval. Their black barge caps bear a silver device that is likely the crest of the important looking officer sitting in the stern. The oarsmen wear their shirts without jacket or waistcoat, and black neckcloths. Standing tall in the stern is the coxswain, who appears to be wearing a black cocked hat with the point forward. His coat (or possibly jacket) is a sort of grey-brown, but the figure is too small to say much else.

The two tars on the boat here are probably watermen. The fellow at the oars wears a black cap that might be either a knit cap or a round hat with very short brim. He is in shirtsleeves and a pair of blue breeches. His mate (at the single short mast amidships) wears a black cap, blue short jacket that ends at the top of his thighs, and a pair of slops.

This boat appears to be a naval one. Standing aft of the oarsmen is an important looking man pointing and posturing in a blue coat, cocked hat, and white small clothes. Taking all of this into consideration, he's probably an officer of the Foudroyant. The boat carries an anchor that is clearly too large for it. It is possible they are carrying it for kedging, but the only two vessels large enough for that to make sense are moving along just fine on their own.

Regardless of their purpose, we can say the oarsmen are wearing round and cocked hats, and coats in a wide variety of colors (blue, brown, red, beige, and possibly green). The sailors aboard the Foudroyant and Pégase wear a similar variety of jacket colors, though blue is the majority by far.

Three soldiers of the Portsmouth garrison stand on the shore in the lower left foreground, beside two tars. These are fairly well dressed mariners, possibly midshipmen or petty officers of some stripe. They could also be common sailors in a fine set of shore clothing slop clothes.

They both wear round hats with short brims, blue jackets with mariner's cuffs that are left open, single breasted white waistcoats, and white trousers. The tar on the left certainly wears a black neckcloth, but as his mate is turned away from us we cannot be sure he wears the same.

Harbor Scene, 18th century

Harbor scene, 18th century, Dominic Serres, Yale Center for British Art.

Dominic Serres has appeared on this blog before, and I'm sure he will again. His scenes often include sailors and watermen. Though it is difficult to tell which profession these men most properly fit into, their clothing would work for either class.

All of them wear round hats. The chap amidships the larger vessel has a slightly taller crown, one that might indicate a later decade of the eighteenth century. His trousers are the same as those worn by the fellow leaning onto the bow. Three of them men wear blue jackets, and two wear brown.

The oarsmen and coxswain disappearing off the right of the frame are dressed in the same garb: black round hats, blue jackets, and a red or orange jacket on the cox.

This will be the last post until after Christmas! Have a happy yuletide, shipmates!

The Piazza at Havana, c.1762

The Piazza at Havana, Dominic Serres, c.1762, National Maritime Museum.

Special thanks to our reader Eric Bloomquist for pointing out this painting!

To celebrate the capture of Havana during the Seven Years War, Dominic Serres did a series of paintings illustrating the distant land for the British people. This scene features one of the squares of that city with its locals dotting the scene and going about their business. Keeping a watchful eye over the populace is a line of regular soldiers and a few scattered tars.

Standing beside a bench in the left foreground are a few Jacks in identical slop clothes. They wear blue short jackets, cocked hats with the point forward, slops, and white neckcloths. At least two of them carry sticks.

These seamen from the center right mid-ground are dressed the same as their mates in the foreground. The major difference is the tarpawlin on the right, who has his back turned to us revealing that his jacket has no vents.

Barges Heading out to Sea, 1782

Barges Heading out to Sea, Dominic Serres, 1782, Yale Center For British Art.

Although some collections do not have as many prints, paintings, and other images that are directly related to our study, the occasional images they do have can be very valuable. Both the Library of Congress and the Yale Center for British Art offer .tiff images. This file format is more detailed than the .png, .jpg, and most other types. This allows us to get much, much more detail out of an image that might otherwise be too vague for us to get much.

Dominic Serres' 1782 illustration "Barges Heading out to Sea" is just such an example. 

Only a few sailors (or perhaps watermen) work about this vessel. At the bow is a chap in (presumably) a short jacket with a knit cap or round hat with loose brim. Amidships and working at the barge's only mast, is a fellow in a short jacket that ends at the waist with no vents, a pair of trousers or slops, and a knit cap. At the tiller are a pair of men: the one on the left appears to be wearing a great coat, fearnought jacket, or some other heavy garment, and a round hat with a tall crown. Beside him is a man in a jacket with a round hat that has a round crown and a brim turned up on two sides.

Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich, September 1761

Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich, September 1761, Dominic Serres, 1761, National Maritime Museum.

This land/seascape depicts the arrival of the German princess Charlotte for her marriage to King George III. The lavish yacht sailing into the harbor bears both her and the name Royal Charlotte. Crowds have gathered on the shore to watch and celebrate her arrival.

There are two versions of this image by Serres in the collection of the National Maritime Museum. This particular piece is a watercolor painted the same year as her arrival. Serres would revisit the piece in 1763 as an oil painting. I decided to use the watercolor because the colors are lighter and a bit easier to interpret.

The reason this watercolor is appropriate for our study is the small gang of sailors at the right of the image. There are four tars overall. Their hats are a bit difficult to interpret with the image's resolution, but we can say with some certainty that at least three of them are wearing cocked hats. The fourth (second from the right) might be wearing a round hat, but I could not say for sure. Three of the four wear blue jackets ending jut below the waist. The tars on each end have two vents at the back of their jackets, and the fellow on the far left has a slash pocket at his waist with buttons. The fourth mariner (second from the left) wears a brown jacket with a single vent and slash pockets at the waist. The second sailor from the right is the only one facing us, and wears no waistcoat. His neckcloth is white. All four sailors wear slops of various hues of brown and white, as well as white stockings.