1798

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

TEMPTING AN ADMIRAL TO ENGAGE

405
Published 1 January 1798 by Laurie & Whittle

A young prostitute clasps the hand of an older sea-officer and points into a public house with the sign, "Wines, Haddocks" over the door. She wears the loose, billowy gowns of the late 90s, and a top hat with ostrich feathers. The officer, who is peg-legged and in uniform with sword, supports himself with a walking-stick in his free hand. Behind the officer, another young woman looks on from an arched alcove in the stone building. The subtitle reads "Hot Work in all Weathers." This impression appears to be the reworking and reissue of an earlier Sayer and Bennett plate, published April 19, 1783, titled A Lugtail Privateer towing A Crippl'd Man of War into Port.

32.5 x 26.1 cm.
New York Public Library (MEZYRK)

Courtesy of the Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA

Sir Sydney Smith's Escape from France

422
Published 18th June 1798 by Laurie & Whittle, No. 53 Fleet Street, London

Three men in a small boat push off from shore toward the open sea. The stern is in the surf with the figure in the foreground, the naval officer, straining on a long pole. A sailor sits behind him with an oar and the another stands in the bow and pushes with the other oar. In the far distance on the coast is a village with one prominent cylindrical structure, perhaps the prison. The couplet subtext is from John Dryden:

Pressure of Mind, and Courage in Distress,
Are more than Armies to procure Success.

Sir Sydney Smith had been captured on April 18, 1796, while commanding the Frigate Dimond on a raid of the Port of Havre. He had been held for two years in Paris before making his escape. He arrived safe in London May 6, 1798.

31.8 x 25.5 cm.
The Mariners' Museum (LP1019)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University

THE TENANT'S DAUGHTER

Published 6 Augt 1798, by Haines & Son No.19 Rolls Buildings Fetter Lane, Fleet Street

A plainly dressed young woman in apron and bonnet sits, turned right but looking forward, beside a mill race holding a spindle and yarn. Her expression is more reflective than bold. Behind her (r.) is the mill with waterwheel and the pond receding into the distance.

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University

THE LANDLORD'S DAUGHTER

Published 6 Augt 1798, by Haines & Son No.19 Rolls Buildings Fetter Lane, Fleet Street

In this companion print to The Tenant's Daugther, the young woman is fashionably dressed with a hat and ribbon. She sits in a rather plain room, intent on her sewing. Scissors and another sewing implement rest on the round table before her. Compared to The Tenant's Daughter, the enclosed room and her focus on her task convey more of a sense of confinement.

31.5 x 25.2 cm.
Yale Center for British Art (B1970.3.815-816)

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

An EMBLEM of ASIA

Published 4 Septr1798 by John Fairburn 146 Minories, London

Within an oval, a turbaned and robed woman stands holding a book, likely the Koran, open in her hand as she gazes left. In the background, right, stands an elephant with howdah bearing three figures. To the left a large desert area with a pyramid near the horizon is fringed with a caravan.

31.5 x 25 cm.
Metropolitan Museum

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

An EMBLEM of EUROPE

Published 4 Septr 1798 by John Fairburn 146 Minories, London

The figure of a woman in classical dress stands relaxed, feet crossed, and resting her elbow on a stack of books. The emblems surrounding her represent industry--a beehive and ships moored in a harbor--and learning--the books, quadrant, telescope, and globe--symbolizing the advances of European civilization compared to a relatively backward Asia, above.

31.5 x 25 cm.
Metropolitan Museum