Robert Smirke (1752-1845) (after)
Robert Pollard (c.1755-1838) (engraver)
Francis Jukes (1745 or1747-1812)(aquatinter)
The Departure
R. Pollard & R. Wilkinson, London: March 8, 1784
Copperplate engraving and aquatint
17.25 x 22 inches, overall
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The Departure
After Robert Smirke, 1784
After Robert Smirke, 1784
Dramatic illustration of a famous shipwreck on the Canadian East Coast that occurred in 1780-81. The print is likely based on the account of Ensign Samuel Waller Prenties (spelled "Prentice" in the caption of the print), who survived the ordeal and in 1782 published a book about his experiences in London.
The story is told in the caption in the lower margin:
"Of S.W. Prentice, Ensign of the 84th Reg, & five others from their Shipwrecked Companions in the depth of Winter 1781. Mr. Prentice was sent with public dispatches from Gen. Haldiman at Quebec to Sir Hen. Clinton at New York. Who with 18 Seamen & Passengers were cast away on a desolate uninhabited part of the Island of Cape Breton Dec. 5, 1780. Five perished & several lost the Fingers & Toes by the severity of the cold. The survivors contained in this place several weeks when M. Prentice & such as were able to, embarked in a small Shattered Boat to seek some inhabited country. They stopped the leaks of their Boat by pouring water on its bottom till the holes were closed up with Ice. During a voyage of two Months in which they suffered incredible hardships & at length worn out with fatigue, benumbed, diseased, & famined. They were discovered by some of the Native Indians. These friendly Savages afterwards went to assist those who had been left at the Wreck of whom 5 only were found alive & they had subsisted many Days on the Bodies of their dead companions."
Robert Smirke was a British painter and illustrator, who trained at the Royal Academy schools and was later made a member of the Academy. He also joined the Society of Artists, with whom he exhibited. He generally produced small-scale, often monochrome, paintings of literary subjects, and was also one of the most prolific book illustrators of the early 19th Century. Several paintings from his illustrations for Don Quixote series are in the collections of the Tate Gallery, and other illustrations are at the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1804, his colleagues elected him Keeper of the Royal Academy, but King George III refused to endorse the appointment and it subsequently went to Henry Fuseli. It is speculated that the king's rejection was related to Smirke's "revolutionary" political views; for example, he later contributed illustrations for a poem calling for the abolition of the slave trade. Four of Smirke's children went on to become successful artists or architects.
Robert Pollard and Francis Jukes were British engravers who produced many prints together, with Pollard doing the etching and Jukes the aquatinting, sometimes after Pollard’s own designs. Pollard began as a painter of landscapes and marine subjects, and went to London where he became an engraver to the book trade. He was established as a publisher by 1779, issuing a wide range of decorative, patriotic and topographical prints. He made a number of fine line engravings after paintings by Robert Smirke. Jukes chiefly produced topographical prints in engraving, etching and, most notably aquatint, at which he was particularly skilled. In addition to many works after Edward Dayes and John Gilpin, his notable productions include Walmsley’s Views in Ireland and Nicholson’s Views in England.
Francis Jukes was an British painter, engraver and publisher.
Full publication information: R. Pollard, No.15 Braynes Row Spa Fields & R. Wilkinson, No. 58 Cornhill, London: March 8, 1784
References:
"Robert Pollard." Grove Dictionary of Art. 2000. Online at Artnet.com. http://www.artnet.com/library/06/0684/T068475.asp
"Robert Smirke (i)." Grove Dictionary of Art. 2000. Online at Artnet.com.http://www.artnet.com/library/07/0792/T079279.asp
Redgrave, Samuel. A Dictionary of Artists of the English School: Painters, Sculptors, Architects, Engravers and Ornamentists. London: Longmans, Green, and Col., 1874. (Jukes, 235).