Sketch between Decks, May 75 [on the 'Pallas', from the Bray album]

  • Life at Sea
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Title
Sketch between Decks, May 75 [on the 'Pallas', from the Bray album]
Reference
PAJ2026
Document Type
  • Artwork, Illustrations and Photographs
Date
May 1775
Description
Titled and dated as above and signed - all on the backing sheet- 'AVpGB' (to the life by Gabriel Bray). This drawing was done on the 'Pallas's' transatlantic crossing from Africa to Barbados, 4 April - 31 May 1775. The scene is likely to be in the ship's cockpit - a lower-deck space, with little natural light, that was the home of midshipmen and master's mates. There they slept, ate and - as shown here - relaxed and studied by candlelight. One of their hanging cots, with a draw-string bag for personal items suspended at its head, can be seen in the top right corner, hanging parallel to the ship's side, as indicated by the positions of the hanging knee and deck beam, top centre. These were the living conditions that 'young gentlemen' first met when they went to sea and it is likely that one or more of those shown are either the Hon. Thomas Pakenham, or Lord Charles Fitzgerald, two of the aristocratic protégés of the ship's captain, the Hon. William Cornwallis.
Theme
  • Everyday Life at Sea