Portsmouth Point Hungry Dogs will eat Dirty Pudding

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Portsmouth Point Hungry Dogs will eat Dirty Pudding

Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827)

Price

£8,500

Signed

Signed, inscribed with title and indistinctly dated

Medium

Ink and watercolour

Dimensions

11 ¼ x 8 ½ inches

Exhibited

'The Illustrators: The British Art of Illustration 1791-2024', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, November 2024-January 2025, no 6

A version of the present drawing was published by Thomas Tegg in March 1812 under the title Sea Stores (Grego, vol II, page 403). The etched version is very similar in composition and features the same two prostitutes. Sea Stores was a companion to Land Stores, an etching that depicts an elderly military officer embracing a vast, black prostitute. Another version of the present drawing was published as an etching in 1815, titled Jack Tar Admiring the Fairer Sex.
The title, Portsmouth Point, is the name of an old district of Portsmouth, also known during this period as ‘Spice Island’ due to its particularly seedy reputation. By the 18th century, Portsmouth Point had become a popular destination for sailors on leave from ships moored in nearby Spithead. As a result it developed a reputation for lewd and raucous behaviour and was comprised mainly of pubs and brothels. In 1814 a Thomas Rowlandson etching with the title Portsmouth Point was published, depicting widespread drunkenness and debauchery along the harbourside.