A Sergeant of Marines

Graphite and watercolour sketch, under yellowing varnish, of a sergeant in the Royal Marines, in uniform. Inscribed beneath the image is the title ‘A Sergeant of Marines’, followed by a quotation: ‘would that he were Fatter’. This line is from Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ (Act 1, Scene 2). The words are uttered by Caesar as he describes his distrust of Cassius, whom he says ‘has a lean and hungry look’ and ‘thinks too much’. It is possible that the use of the quotation as a caption for this sketch is meant to insinuate that the sergeant is power-hungry and manipulative, like Cassius, or it may simply be intended as a joke about his skinny frame.

The drawing 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 PAH4912.

Object Details

ID: PAH4911
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Hollis, Aiskew Paffard
Date made: 1785–98
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Image: 109 x 79 mm
Parts: Album of drawings (Album)