Fighting for the Dunghill: - or - Jack Tar settling Citoyen Francois (caricature)

This hand-coloured etching shows a plump Jack Tar sitting stably upright atop a globe. He fights an emaciated and unsteady French citizen (‘Citoyen Francois’). Receiving a brutal blow and starting to fall from his perch, the Frenchman is bleeding profusely from his nose and is branded[KG1.1] with the names of British Admirals: ‘Warren’, ‘Howe’, ‘Nelson’, ‘Duncan’ and ‘Bridport’. The globe is labelled ‘England’, ‘Europe’, ‘Mediterranean’, ‘Africa’, and ‘Turkey’, presenting prominent regions in the Napoleonic Wars.

‘Jack Tar’” was a term used for common sailors in the Royal Navy. In this caricature his hat is labelled “Britannia rules the w[aves]”. In a subsequent reworking of the print, Gillray depicted Napoleon as Jack Tar’s counterpart (see PAD4792) and added ‘Malta’ to the globe as a foothold for the British sailor. Here, though, Gillray uses the more generalised ‘Citoyen’, a non-hierarchical term that gained popularity in the French revolution to describe the French citizens.

This copy was purchased from the Walter family and was originally owned by John Henry Fraser Walter, a descendant of John Walter who founded ‘The Times’ newspaper. John Henry Fraser Walter moved away from publishing to pursue a range of interests, such as establishing a shipping company sending steamers to English ports and beyond. He amassed a large collection of naval prints and other artefacts, much of which was lent to the National Maritime Museum in 1935 and acquired in 1960.