Life on the Ocean, Representing the Usual Occupations of the Young Officers in the Steerage of a British Frigate at Sea (1820-1837)

Life on the Ocean, Representing the Usual Occupations of the Young Officers in the Steerage of a British Frigate at Sea

Created by: Augustus Earle
Archive: National Maritime Museum
Reference number: Object ID no. BHC1118
Date: 1820-1837
Notes: The closely observed painting perceives leisure time and its potential for disruption, implied by the overall surveillance of the marine officer in the back of the painting to the left. The picture sits at the interface between control and disorder implied by the monkey, the parrot who could unpredictably fly off its perch, and the men drinking. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1837 it forms a companion piece to BHC1119.

Sunken ship