Untitled Print, Garrick as the Drunken Sailor, 1770's-1780's

Untitled Print, Garrick as the Drunken Sailor, Samuel Wale, 1770's-1780's, British Museum.

David Garrick is once more portrayed in a sketch (likely a study for an engraving) as his character the Drunken Sailor from "Britannia, a Masque."

In this piece, Garrick is shown with a cocked hat pointed to the front, short and curly black hair, and a short black neckcloth. Like the last piece, this one also shows him without a waistcoat. Garrick's jacket is single breasted with large buttons and slash cuffs. The white trousers are shown with a clear button fly front, a detail usually left out of period images. A single large button at the top is the chief fastener. Again he wears black stockings, but these shoes have rounded toes and rectangular buckles. In his right hand, Garrick wields a stick.

What we might call "copyright infringement" did exist in the eighteenth century, but they were loosely enforced. Often you will find images lifted wholesale by other printers. Most famously this was the case with Paul Revere's Boston Massacre engraving, which he had copied from a rival printer. It may be tempting to say this is true of Garrick's Drunken Sailor as well, but the differences are more stark. The sailors wear typical sailors' clothing, but of two different varieties: slops v. trousers, cocked hat forward v reversed, even different hair color. Their poses are different, and the borders are apples and oranges. More than likely, these were not copied from each other, but riding the coattails of Garrick's success.

Mr. Garrick in the Character of the Drunken Sailor, 1778

Mr. Garrick in the Character of the Drunken Sailor, Isaac Taylor, 1778, British Museum.

David Garrick was quite possibly the most famous actor of the English world in the eighteenth century. His career was long and fruitful. In many ways, Garrick changed the way theatrical productions were created and delivered to audiences. This print came out only the year before his death at sixty two. This specific print portrays him in his role as an intemperate jack in the play "Britannia, a Masque."

Garrick wears a reversed cocked hat, and his hair appears short, though it could be tucked up into the hat. I am unfamiliar with how actors would wear their hair, or if they preferred wigs in order to allow more fluidity in the roles they could portray. Either way, he wears a black neckcloth and a striped shirt with no waistcoat. His jacket is without buttons, pockets, or slash cuffs. Garrick's slops about his waist end below the knee, and black stockings sheathe his legs. Pointed toe shoes with oval buckles carry him across the stage. In Garrick's left hand is a stick, and in his right is a paper that I presume served some purpose in introducing the play.

These images beg us to be especially careful in our conclusions. While the general appearance is probably fairly reliable, this is twice removed from our subject of study. It is an actor in a costume who is then relayed by an artist to a print. The jacket may be a good example of this: without any buttons, it would not be a very practical item for sailors to use at sea!