Lord howe (left) sits cross-legged on a tailor's shop-board working at a naval coat which lies across his knees. He holds up a threaded needle in his right hand; in his left are shears with which he is about to cut the thread. He says, "i have now finish'd my seven years plan of the n-v-l uniform; next the marines must be blue, faced with white, & white buttons. I shan't let the guardships cruize as formerly, a bad plan, give me young officers that know little, then i may shew my skill - the word merit should be expung'd from the dictionary. Next year i must set a few more of the old ninety two's aside, & have smart young admirals. I'll have a general reform soon. " beside him is a tailor's goose, &c. Behind him (right) five naval coats in course of completion hang from a row of pegs, two have elaborately wide cuffs, one of which is decorated with an anchor. Beneath the board on which howe sits are demons from whose operations smoke rises to surround him. Two grotesque nude creatures (left), one very thin, the other obese, are on the top of a circular platform which rests on a mast flying an ensign. They are cooking a goose, a cabbage, and a cucumber, all emblems of the tailor, cf. Bmsat 5805, &c. The place where the 'cabbage' (pilfered cloth) was kept was called hell. Grose, 'dict. Vulgar tongue', 1796. Next them a large devil with a gridiron under his arm stretches out his talons, saying, "and i'll have a general reform soon as i shall get you before you are aware of it. I've ting'd your heart so may safely leave you to go on. " 4 february 1788
etching. Date: 1788. Dimensions: Height: 238 mm; Width: 230 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Adm Richard Howe, Earl Howe. Collection: British Museum. Black-Dick Turn'd Taylor (BM 1851,0901.380)
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