Men of War, Bound for the Port of Pleasure

This hand-coloured print depicts a port scene featuring sailors and sex workers. In the foreground, a sailor holding a purse is walking with a woman whose breast is exposed.
Behind them, another sailor embraces a woman, who reaches into his pocket to steal his watch. On the right, a woman sits on the lap of a third sailor. Behind them, a caricatured Black sailor grips the face of a woman. In the background, a coach destined for Gravesend carries a crowd of sailors, who are waving their hats and drinking from bottles.
Interactions between sailors and sex workers were often satirized in maritime prints. These subjects were usually presented as sources of comic titillation and as moral lessons. Published in 1791 by Carington Bowles, this print features stereotyped portrayals of sex workers, minority groups, and sailors. The women are sexualized and presented as figures of criminality and moral corruption, who gleefully enjoy their work while stealing from their clients. The inclusion of a black sailor assaulting a woman reflects historic racist stereotypes associating blackness with sexual violence. The debauched behavior of the sailors as a whole reflects the popular characterization of sailors as blundering, impulsive and unable to control themselves, especially when ashore.