| Method | Mezzotint with hand colouring |
| Artist | after Robert Dighton |
| Published | Printed for & Sold by Bowles & Carver. No 69. St Paul's Church Yard, London. [1791] |
| Dimensions | Image 135 x 110 mm, Plate 150 x 112 mm, Sheet 232 x 150 mm |
| Notes |
A miniature mezzotint droll of a sailor counting his pay, engraved for Bowles & Carver after a design by Robert Dighton. The sailor is shown half length in an oval, identifiable by his neckerchief, coat, and fur cap, the ears of which he has turned up. He counts out his coins while smirking at the viewer, dropping them one by one from his right hand into his outstretched left. A scene beyond the cracked windowsill behind him features a pair of ships at sea. The subject is probably derived from a similar composition etched by Blooteling after Staverenus. Robert Dighton (1752 - 1814) was an English draughstman and printmaker. He was the son of the art dealer John Dighton, and father of the artists Robert Junior, Denis, and Richard. Dighton was especially well known for his satirical prints, which he initially supplied to Carington Bowles and Haines. Later plates he etched, published, and sold himself. Dighton infamously stole prints from the British Museum to stock his shop in Charing Cross. When this was discovered in 1806, Dighton escaped prosecution, but was forced to lie low in Oxford until the scandal died down. Bowles & Carver was a publishing partnership between Henry Carington Bowles II (son of Carington Bowles I) and Samuel Carver. It was a continuation of the Bowles' business in St Paul's Churchyard, London, between 1793 and 1832. In 1818, Bowles built Myddelton House in Enfield. A view of the shop when trading as Bowles and Carver appears in Thomas Hornor's Prospectus: View of London and the surrounding country (1823). Lennox Boyd iii/iii, Chaloner Smith undescribed, Russell undescribed. Condition: Strong clean impression with full margins. Old adhesive stains to margins, not affecting plate. Minor acid burn from old mount just outside platemark. Small puncture to top right corner of margin. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £300.00 |
| Stock ID | 51292 |