Swaine (John)

, C. Dyer, 1815.
an only mildly caricatured, though imaginatively composed, full-length standing portrait of Lord Cochrane, satirising the stellar rise and dramatic fall of this highly controversial naval and political figure. The separate text panel, presumably once appended to the print, though no other extant copies found refer to such, describes it thus: ‘One Side of the above Novel and esteemed Print, represents Lord C. attired in Naval Costume, as Post Captain, with a List of some of his Achievements and Honors emblematically arranged at the Point of his Sword, by which they were gained; in the Back Ground, a View of the Sea, and Ship of War at Anchor, with a Fleet in the Offing, waiting his Arrival. The opposite Side, represents him in Confinement, deprived of all Honors he had acquired, which lie scattered on the Ground; the Placard in his Hand, refers to Documents to enable the Reader to form his own Opinion on the Subject, and by placing a Paper over one Half of the Figure, you instantly produce a correct Likeness either Way’. Just below the title, the plate is ‘Dedicated without permission to all whom it may concern or please by their obed.t Serv.t R. Bothsides’. In the lower corners of the image, the artist and engraving are pseudonymously given as ‘S.T. Taw Inv.t’ and ‘E. Niaws Sc’.

Thomas, Lord Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald (1775-1860), came from a Scottish noble family with a long tradition of service in the military and in politics. He joined the navy aged just 17, at the outbreak of the French revolutionary war in 1793, and quickly rose through the ranks with a precocious audacity that often grated with his superiors. In 1801, he commanded a small vessel that captured the Spanish ship, El Gamo, that had three times the fire-power and six times the crew, a feat recorded at the top of the list of his achievements depicted in the lower left corner of this print. Such was his reputation that Napoleon dubbed him ‘Le loup des mers’, or Sea Wolf. He also found time to begin a political career, being elected to the House of Commons in 1806, characteristically as a radical reformer.

In 1809, Cochrane defied orders by attacking the French fleet at the Battle of the Basque Roads, and would have delivered a crushing victory had he had the support of Admiral Gambier. The incident is represented in another caricature to be found on this site, ‘Sternhold and Hopkins at Sea, or a Stave out of Time’, by Charles Williams. Cochrane’s attempt to have Gambier court-martialled failed due to his unpopularity with the establishment. This factor was to weigh heavily against him, and forms the essence of the print before us, when Cochrane, himself, was convicted by Lord Ellensborough, on this occasion of stock market fraud, in 1814. This led to his expulsion from the House of Commons, being dishonourably discharged from the navy, and being sent to prison. However, he was immediately re-elected by his constituents, escaped from prison and presented himself in defiance before the Commons, all of which is represented in this clever composition..
300 by 210mm (11¾ by 8¼ inches).