George Cruikshank Mr. B. On the Middle Watch- "Cold Blows the Wind & the Rain's Coming On."

Details

Description

From The Progress of a Midshipman, Exemplified in the Career of Master Blockhead (Plate 3)
London: Thomas McLean, 1835
Etching … Read more From The Progress of a Midshipman, Exemplified in the Career of Master Blockhead (Plate 3)
London: Thomas McLean, 1835
Etching with hand-coloring in watercolor

A beautifully preserved hand-colored etching from the celebrated maritime collaboration between George Cruikshank and Captain Frederick Marryat two of the most accomplished illustrators and satirists of the early Victorian era. This work, The Progress of a Midshipman, Exemplified in the Career of Master Blockhead, was issued in an oblong folio containing twelve plates after Marryat’s original watercolors, etched by Cruikshank and published by Thomas McLean in London.

This example, Plate 3, comes from the second and final edition (1835). It is signed and dated in the plate by Cruikshank and bears Marryat’s distinctive anchor moniker. The impression shows fine detail and delicate original coloring typical of McLean’s best issues.

Cruikshank, one of the leading caricaturists of his generation and a close friend of Charles Dickens and Marryat, naval officer, novelist, and inventor of the Marryat Code of Signals shared both creative and political sympathies. Their partnership produced a series of satirical works that vividly capture the humor and human drama of life at sea.

Details:
• Artist: George Cruikshank (after Frederick Marryat)
• Title: The Progress of a Midshipman, Exemplified in the Career of Master Blockhead, Plate 3
• Medium: Etching with hand-coloring in watercolor
• Publisher: Thomas McLean, London
• Date: August 1835
• Edition: Second and final
• Signed: In the plate by Cruikshank; bears Marryat’s anchor moniker
• Condition: Very good; colors fresh with minor age toning consistent with period

A fine example of early nineteenth-century British satire and maritime art an outstanding addition to any Cruikshank, Dickens, or naval history collection. See less