Frigates Towing a Hulk
Thomas Rowlandson
(English, 1756–1827)
1812
Medium/TechniquePen, and ink and watercolor over graphite (recto); graphite (verso)
DimensionsSheet: 28.5 x 21.9 cm (11 1/4 x 8 5/8 in. )
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. John Dolliver MacDonald
Accession number50.3987
On View
Not on viewClassificationsWatercolors
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Maritime metaphors were in wide use in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. A frigate is a quick and lively warship, nimble and highly maneuverable—very useful in battle; a hulk is an old, tired, and leaky, ship, no longer able to move under its own power.
