Old Alexis the Italian Fiddler
Pen-and-ink sketch of a man playing the violin, inscribed beneath the image ‘Old Alexis the Italian Fidler [sic] / playing one of Correlli’s [Corelli’s] Sonatas / a very good Musician’. A speech bubble from the fiddler’s mouth reads ‘Oh! Dat is foin!’. This may be intended to convey an Italian accent through phonetic spelling.
The sketch is part of an album containing fifty-seven drawings (PAH4886–PAH4943) created by British naval officer Aiskew Paffard Hollis (1764–1844) during the late 1780s and the 1790s. The majority relate to his service as a lieutenant in ‘Pegase’ in 1785–90, in ‘Andromeda’ in 1790–93 and in ‘Queen’ in 1793–96. Included are portraits of Hollis’s shipmates, often with humorous captions, as well as scenes of everyday life ashore and afloat. This sketch is mounted on the same page as PAH4893, a similar sketch of a violinist, inscribed ‘Billy Tickell the Purser of the Andromeda 1791’.
The sketch is part of an album containing fifty-seven drawings (PAH4886–PAH4943) created by British naval officer Aiskew Paffard Hollis (1764–1844) during the late 1780s and the 1790s. The majority relate to his service as a lieutenant in ‘Pegase’ in 1785–90, in ‘Andromeda’ in 1790–93 and in ‘Queen’ in 1793–96. Included are portraits of Hollis’s shipmates, often with humorous captions, as well as scenes of everyday life ashore and afloat. This sketch is mounted on the same page as PAH4893, a similar sketch of a violinist, inscribed ‘Billy Tickell the Purser of the Andromeda 1791’.