Searching an English ship in the Dardanelles - or our faithful Ally showing his respect for the British Flag (caricature)

This hand-coloured print depicts a fraught scene as a British crew and their captain are captured by Russians. On the left, two British sailors have their hands tied, and one is held at gun point by a Russian sailor, while his crewmates loot the ship’s supplies of British food, drink and goods on the right. The captain bears his empty hands as another Russian sailor removes his top hat and two Russian officers, in green coats and comically large bicorne hats, overlook the scene. Behind them, a Russian ship can be seen firing towards another British ship, and a Turkish ship is on the horizon. The print is captioned at the top, ‘If our governors had not tied our hands you would not sarve us in this way – never mind we’ll have a brush with some of ye before long’.

Britain, Russia and France were allied throughout the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) and, when the Ottoman Sultan closed the Dardanelles (a narrow strait between Europe and Asia) to Russian ships, the Russo-Turkish War broke out as a result in 1828. Despite recent allyship being demonstrated in the London Protocol agreement in March 1829, tensions were brewing between Britain and Russia over Asian territories in what would become known as the Great Game.

The caricature is signed in the lower left with a small figure of a crouching man, leaning on a cane. This figure represents ‘Paul Pry’, a pen name frequently used by artist William Heath. Heath took the name from the title character in a farce written by playwright John Poole in 1825.