Advance Three Steps Backwards, 1779

Advance Three Steps Backwards, (Word of command the last War by Col._) or the Militia Heroes, published by Matthew Darly, 1779, American Antiquarian Society.

Advance Three Steps Backwards, or the Militia Heroes, published by Matthew Darly, c.1779, British Museum.

Advance Three Steps Backwards, (Word of command the last War by Col._) or the Militia Heroes, published by Matthew Darly, collection unknown.

Thanks to follower Phil Hosea for bringing my attention to this print. I was unable to find the source of the third image here, so if you happen to know where it is from, please let me know!

The rebellion in the American colonies was draining the British. With the entry of the French and Spanish in 1778, the war expanded across the globe and strained the Crown's resources. Threats of invasion of Britain saw a renewed emphasis on militia companies, but it appears that the printer Matthew Darly didn't think much of them.

In this cartoon, Darly skewers the ragtag companies of British militia as inept. Muskets are angled all over the place, and the men of the company are of all sorts of sizes and shapes. The fellow on the far right is a sailor.

He wears a round hat with an upturned brim over a bob wig. A white neckcloth is tucked into his single breasted jacket, which is orange/brown in one coloration, and blue with red cuffs in the others. His petticoat trousers are green in both colored prints, which I don't think I've ever seen before. Perhaps it was the same colorist for both copies, but it is the only consistent coloring aside from the red uniform coats with blue facings that the soldiers in the image wear.

The Death of Cook, 1784, 1787-1788

The Death of Cook, John Cleveley the Younger, 1784, collection unknown.

Detail from The Death of Cook, John Cleveley the Younger, 1784, Wikimedia Commons.

Detail from The Death of Cook, John Cleveley the Younger, c.1784, Honolulu Academy of Arts via Wikimedia Commons.

View of Owhyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands (Known as The Death of Cook), John Cleveley the Younger, published posthumously by Frances Jukes, 1788, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

John Cleveley the Younger, a prolific marine artist, followed in the footsteps of his father. Unlike other marine artists, the Cleveley family maintained connections to the world of common sailors. John Cleveley the Elder and his son James were both ship's carpenters.

James was lucky enough to join Captain Cook's fateful third voyage aboard the Resolution. It is quite possible that he personally witnessed the death of Captain Cook, and so could inform his brother John's work on the subject.

For centuries, copies of Cleveley the Younger's depiction of Captain Cook's death could be found in collections around the world, including some of those shown above. In 2004, the original painting turned up for auction at Christies, where it caught more than three times the expected price. Much of this was due to the difference between the original and the copies.

As reported at the time, Cleveley showed Cook clubbing his musket and fighting with the natives of Hawaii, rather than fleeing as in the subsequent, sanitized versions.

The sailors themselves are clad in red, brown, and blue jackets, with white trousers, and one or two trousers with narrow vertical red or blue stripes. One oarsman even appears to be wearing a striped jacket. Round hats make up the headwear of the common sailors in Cleveley's piece.

The Female Bruisers, 1768

The Female Bruisers, John Collet, 1768, Museum of London.

The Female Bruisers, engraved by J. Goldar after John Collet, 1770, Yale University Lewis Walpole Library.

Once again I am indebted to Adam Hodges-LeClaire for pointing me to this piece.

John Collet pops up here and there on this website. His A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant is one of my absolute favorite pieces.  I had glanced at this piece in the past, but didn't put much thought into it, as it did not have an apparent maritime connection.

That is, until Adam pointed me to the right of the frame.

Two sailors, happy to take in the free entertainment of a pair of 'Female Bruisers,' restrain a madam from interfering. These mariners are the opposite for the righteous defenders of prostitutes Collet extolled in The Tars Triumphant.

The Museum of London Version is the original, but is also low resolution, so I'm pairing it with a high resolution print from the Yale University Lewis Walpole Library to tease out the details.

The sailor in the foreground wears a cocked hat bound in gold or white tape over a loose white bob wig. His blue jacket with white metal buttons is double breasted, and the mariners' cuffs are open. A closely knotted handkerchief of indeterminate pattern hangs from his neck.  It rests over a single breasted waistcoat with narrow horizontal stripes. His check shirt is peeking out from under the jacket. Red breeches are tied at the knee. His shoes bear rectangular buckles.

His mate wears a single breasted jacket over a plain single breasted waistcoat. Our mariner's shirt is open, and he is notably without a handkerchief.

British Resentment or the French fairly Coopt at Louisbourg, 1755

British Resentment or the French fairly Coopt at Louisbourg, Louis Pierre Boitard, 1755, Colonial Williamsburg.

British Resentment or the French fairly Coopt at Louisbourg, Louis Pierre Boitard, 1755, John Carter Brown Library of Early American Images.

Copies of this cartoon can be found at Williamsburg, the Walpole Library, the John Carter Brown Early American Images collection, the Library of Congress, the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, and other major institutions.

Louisbourg had long been a target of the British in their wars against French Canada. This political cartoon by Boitard was counting chickens before they hatched. It would be another three years of war between the American and French colonies of North America.

There are a good number of sailors in this print, so we'll get right into it!

Starting from the left, there is a sailor at the base of the pyramid brandishing his curved cutlass and, in the words of Boitard, "pointing to the eclipse, & leering at a French Politician trapt by his own Schemes." This sailor wears a reversed cocked hat with narrow brim, held up by a skinny loop. His blue single breasted jacket has mariners cuffs with matching buttons. The waistcoat beneath is white with narrow vertical red stripes over a white shirt. A pair of white petticoat trousers and white stockings leading to pointed toe shoes with rectangular buckles complete his appearance. Peeking from beneath the petticoat trousers on his right leg is the tie that binds the breeches beneath.

In the foreground on the far right, conversing with a soldier, another tar sits by a cannon where he "Squeezes the Gallic Cock by the throat, & makes him disgorge the French usurpations in America." He also wears a blue jacket, with its mariners' cuff open so we can see the white shirt beneath. Trousers or petticoat trousers run down to the top of his calf when he site. He wears a yellow neckcloth which is spotted, and may have red spots in the Williamsburg version, but the resolution is too low to be certain. It appears that this sailor, too, wears his cocked hat reversed.

Behind the cannon "A Gang of brave Saylors [are] exulting at the Starving French coopt up." All of them wear petticoat trousers and carry or wear cocked hats, many of them bare bob wigs as they raise their hats in rejoicing. Most of them brandish long sticks. The mariner up front wears a striped waistcoat just like that of the sailor by the pyramid. Among them, the least uniform is only differentiated from his mates by the brown jacket he wears. Interestingly, most have flap pockets on their waistcoats and jackets, and at least one on his jacket.

The Press Gang, c.1760

The Press Gang, John Collet, c.1760's, from The Foundling Museum.

I was directed to this image by The 18th Century Material Cultural Resource Center. Among their many excellent slideshows are a few focused on naval material culture.

Unfortunately, the Foundling Museum does not have a date for this piece. The 18th Century Material Culture Resource center gives this an approximate dating of c.1760's. Based on the clothing worn by men and women throughout this painting, I would agree with that approximation. As with many tavern scenes of the time, this is a chaotic piece with a lot going on.

Starting at the far left is a tar sharing a word with a woman, possibly his wife. He gestures toward a boy who holds what appears to be a British flag. The sailor wears the familiar reversed cocked hat, perhaps with the brim bound in tape. The tar's blue jacket ends about the middle of the thigh, with slash cuffs. His neckcloth and waistcoat are both red, and his white petticoat trousers that end just below the knee. Gray stockings lead to round toe shoes, but the quality of this copy does not allow us to see the buckles. The boy also wears the dress of a sailor: a round hat with cylindrical crown bound in white tape, blue jacket, and plain white trousers.

In the right of the frame, a pair of sailors drag a poor chap before woman on her knee, pleading for his release. The jack on the left is wearing a  cocked hat, red neckcloth, blue short jacket, petticoat trousers, and plain white or gray stockings. His mate on the right is wearing precisely the same slop clothes, though he might be holding a walking stick.

In the foreground at the right is a sailor lounging on a bench and lifting a lidded tankard. His cocked hat is turned with the point forward, and he wears a red jacket. The petticoat trousers hang long, but we can still see the gray or white stockings about his legs.

In the background a mess of tars play cards and carouse with women. They wear cocked hats and cocked hats, and the bareheaded mariners on the right wear bob wigs. Though the image is faded, they appear to be wearing red neckcloths and waistcoats.

The True British Tar, 1785

The True British Tar, Carington Bowles, 1785, British Museum.

Beyond the window lies a ship at anchor, but clearly our sailor is a bit more focused on the sacks of Spanish dollars he's procured. His table is scattered with coins and bedecked with bottles of Madeira. Lying against the box on which he sits is a neglected pipe, spilling its flames and smoking worryingly.

Our mariner wears a round hat lined with gold tape, and decorated with a blue bow (typical of works by Carington Bowles). Flowing from beneath is a wig with a long, tightly bound queue. Sailors of the eighteenth century wore their hair short, until just about this period when long and tightly bound queues begin to appear alongside should length and shorter hair styles. This is the earliest image I'm aware of that clearly shows a common sailor with a long, tightly bound pigtail or 'rattail.' His neckcloth is a sort of burgundy color, and fringed at the edges.

The jacket itself is blue, but it is impossible to tell if it is single or double breasted. Either way, it has brass buttons on both the front and the slash cuffs. Out of the jacket pocket, or perhaps spilling out through a rear vent, a burgundy handkerchief spotted in yellow hangs loose. His red waistcoat has white metal buttons, and a colorful blue ribbon and fob extends from beneath it.

Red striped trousers lead down to clocked stockings, pointed toe shoes, and yellow metal oval shaped buckles. The straps of his shoes are trained "sailor fashion."

Fortune's Favourites: or Happiness in every Situation, 1786

Fortune's Favourites: or Happiness in every Situation, Robert Dighton, printed by Bowles & Carver, 1786, British Museum.

Dighton's cartoon shows all classes of society smiling and enjoying their day beneath a blindfolded Fortune, with one hand on a wheel (perhaps a spinning wheel?) and the other holding an overflowing cornucopia. A cobbler, butcher, shoeblack, and carpenter join the sailor in representing the lower classes. They are comingled with a decorated peer, a rich miser, and (according to the curators of the British Museum) 'a fat alderman eating from a bowl of soup inscribed "Turtle."'

The image is crowded, so the sailor is obscured by the miser.

Over his loose and flowing locks, our tar wears a cocked hat with the point forward and a large blue cockade on the left side. Around his neck is a red neckcloth, draped over his shirt and jacket. The blue jackets is fitted with open mariner's cuffs with white or silver buttons. Beneath his plain petticoat trousers is a wooden leg.

The Frenchman in Distress, 1786

The Frenchman in Distress, Robert Dighton, printed by Bowles & Carver, 1786, British Museum.

Beating well dressed and effeminate Frenchmen is a running theme in British cartoons of the late eighteenth century. In this case, a coachman gets his licks in, raising a fist while the Frenchman empties his pockets, spilling his fripperies onto the sidewalk. Numerous onlookers watch the scene, including a sailor and what might be his family.

The large woman stands by the oysters she has for sale, an oyster knife hanging from her waist. to the right stands a well dressed tar.

His round hat is black with an upturned brim, a "buck hat." His shirt is bared between the open lapels of a red waistcoat, over which a short black neckcloth hangs down, tied beneath his collar. A blue jacket with white buttons and a closed mariners cuff hands down to the top of his thighs. White trousers striped with narrow red vertical stripes ends above the ankle. Rectangular buckles keep his shoes fit tight, and he holds a stick in his right hand.

Courtship in Low Life, 1785

Courtship in Low Life, Thomas Rowlandson, 1785, Royal Collection Trust.

The curators at the Royal Collection trust suppose this print to have been acquired by Queen Victoria in the nineteenth century. It was originally accompanied by a matching print entitled Courtship in High Life.

The latter, shown above, depicts the future King George IV, the current Prince of Wales, courteously kneeling at the foot of a well dressed woman. The humorous contrast comes from the drunken tar in the former, pouring a glass of wine and winking at a woman "in a state of undress" as the curator so delicately puts it.

Our sailor wears a black round hat with the short brim slightly upturned, possibly a buck hat. His curly brown hair might be cut short, but it's hard to tell with the detail in this image. Around his neck is a yellow neckcloth dotted in red, or perhaps floral. Looking closely, it is easy to tell that the original engraving did not grant our tar a waistcoat. There are no lines, no pockets, and no buttons. Possibly Rowlandson wanted his sailor to be wearing a shirt alone, or maybe a smock tucked into his trousers. The red may have been an attempt by the colorist to impart a waistcoat on our mariner.

His trousers are striped, but this was also added by the colorist. With a wooden leg for his left, he wears a blue stocking on his one good foot, with a white metal oval buckle on his shoe. His jacket is blue with yellow metal buttons. Interestingly, the open mariners' cuff on his left wrist still bears the yellow buttons, so perhaps Rowlandson intended them to be non-functional.

A Seaman with a Man of War's Barge, 1777

A Seaman with a Man of War's Barge, Dominic Serres, 1777, National Maritime Museum.

Dominic Serres largely focused on marine art in the more traditional mode: seascapes at enough of a distance to include the ship from waterline to masthead and well beyond both. Sometimes you can pick out sailors here and there, but they are incidental to his paintings, and not as integral to his art as the Cleveleys.

In November 1777, Serres parted from his usual practice and etched and painted a series of images depicting the uniforms of the Royal Navy. These climbed the ranks of the navy from the seaman seen here through the midshipman, post captain, and other officer ranks to that of admiral.

The sailor's short jacket is the typical blue and single breasted with a row of cloth covered or thread buttons. The short jacket has neither lapels nor collar, but does have scalloped mariner's cuffs with a three button closure which is open at least on the furthest button out. Our seaman's neckcloth is tied close and hanging loosely over his waistcoat. The hair of our subject is loose and short. His waistcoat is plain white and single breasted, without pockets and with cloth covered buttons. The cutaway of his waistcoat is very short, ending above the petticoat trousers. The petticoat trousers themselves are a plain white, stretching from the seaman's natural waist to the top of the calf. It is bound by a single button at the waist. His stockings are plain white, though of a slightly lighter hue than the petticoat trousers. His shoes are held by rectangular buckles of white metal.

His hat is a barge cap, with a silver insignia on its face not unlike that described by Nagle and depicted in the portrait of Arthur Phillip in 1786.

The barge is interesting for the mobile ramp affixed to its bow. This may be the same sort of landing craft used to shuttle troops ashore during the New York campaign, a variation of which is depicted in the 1780 print A View of Gravesend in Kent, with Troops Passing the Thames to Tilbury Fort.

Detail from A View of Gravesend in Kent, with Troops Passing the Thames
to Tilbury Fort, F. West, 1780, Brown University.

In the barge is a tiny figure of a second sailor, likewise wearing a blue short jacket and white waistcoat. His waistcoat appears slightly longer, but the figure is obscured by distance.

Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring and Feathering, 1774

The Bostonian's Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, attributed to Philip Dawe, published by Sayer and Bennett, 1774, John Carter Brown Library.

The Bostonian's Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, attributed to Philip Dawe, published by Sayer and Bennett, 1774, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The Bostonian's Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, attributed to Philip Dawe, published by Sayer and Bennett, 1774, Library of Congress via Lapham's Quarterly.

Philip Dawe's image, as printed by Sayer and Bennett, is a popular one. Original copies exist in many museum and private collections. The image of an American mob attacking a government official with a noose around his neck, a club by his side, tarred and feathered, with tea poured into his mouth is a shocking one.

While this image has endured, it is only half of the story. Sayer and Bennett published it as 'Plate I.' An accompanying piece, The Bostonians in Distress, was meant to accompany it. Plate I depicts Americans behaving badly, Plate II shows the consequences of their actions.

In March of 1774, the Boston Port Act was passed in Parliament. Created as a punitive measure in response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament decalred with the Port Act that Britain would 'discontinue, in such manner, and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing and discharging, shipping of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the town, and within the harbour, of Boston.'

Dawe was answering critics of the Port Act by demonstrating that the mobs of America had this coming. For his central subject he chose to portray John Malcolm. A known informant, he was targeted in 1773 by a large mob of sailors for a tar and feathering.

Newport Mercury, November 29, 1774, page 2

Undeterred, Malcolm became a customs commissioner. After an altercation with a shoemaker, Malcolm was tarred and feathered again in January of 1774, mere weeks after the Boston Tea Party. Obstinate, he refused to give into the mob's wish that he renounce his position, even after they strapped a noose around his neck (as Dawe depicts).

Malcolm's posture, pleading while being restrained with a kettle of tea poured into his throat, is a direct answer to the unidentified English artist of The Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught. Published in October, Dawe's Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man came fully six months after The Able Doctor.

The able Doctor; or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught, artist unknown,
1774, American Antiquarian Society.

Given that sailors gave Malcolm his first drubbing, and that (in the words of John Adams) 'outlandish jack tarrs' formed the center of America's 'motley rabble,' it was natural for Dawe to put a sailor in the foreground. The inclusion of a sailor, standing prominently on the right edge of the frame and wielding a weapon, also appears to be an answer to The Able Doctor. 'Sure,' he says 'our sailors shut down the port, but your sailors made us do it.'

Gilder Lehrman Copy

John Carter Brown Library Copy

Library of Congress Copy

The colorists for these prints are fairly consistent. All portray him as wearing a blue jacket (white metal buttons, except the John Carter Brown copy with cloth covered buttons), white petticoat trousers, and white stockings. His cap is a shade of brown, except for the John Carter Brown copy where it is a sort of purple, matching the breeches that peak from beneath his petticoat trousers. The sailor in the Library of Congress copy wears white breeches that match the shade of his petticoat trousers, which might be the same as the Gilder Lehrman copy. The neckcloth is different between all three versions, vacillating between striped and patterned, spotted or perhaps floral, orange and yellow or blue and red.