A Frigate Awaiting a Pilot

Ships and Boat on Sea

William Anderson's Frigate is an example of many marine images which portrayed British ships simply existing on the sea. The British flags prominently displayed on both frigates ensure that the observer realizes the connection between this scene and the British nation.

Swanage

Two Men Moving Boat to Shore in Storm

William Daniell's hand-colored aquatint illustrates the difficulty of maintaining control of the sea once it had been, in a sense, claimed by Britain's perception of itself as a great maritime power. This difficulty is mirrored in the struggle of the men attempting to haul a rowboat ashore and in the labored leaning of the distant vessels against the storm.

Cruikshank's Napoleon

Napoleon crowning himself Emperor of France
Date Published

George Cruikshank (1792-1878), who began his long and influential career as a caricaturist and book illustrator at the age of eight, working in his father’s shop, produced a steady output of political prints for over sixty years, although he focus had shifted to book illustration by the mid 1820’s. His works, which include more than 6000 graphic designs, ranged from portraits (some satiric, others not, depending on the tastes of his patrons and employers), attacks on politicians, the British monarchy, and Napoleon, illustrations for children’s books, and advertising for the Temperance Movement. By the second decade of the nineteenth century he was admired as the leading British caricaturist.

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