Oil painting entitled 'Jack in his Glory - a Hackney Coach Driven by Drunken Sailors' by Julius Caesar Ibbetson. Great Britain, 1795.

Ibbetson worked as a theatre scene painter from about 1772 to 1777, when he moved to London, painting and copying for dealers. Despite his varied achievements, he was notoriously unsuccessful in financial terms; he blamed the picture dealers, comparing them to living artists as hawks to singing-birds. This painting is inscribed by the artist with an explanation of the title. 'Jack', an old slang term for a sailor, is 'in his glory', having a wonderful time. He is returning from the Peckham Fair with two prostitutes and two fiddlers; his 'messmates' have confined the coachman in the carriage and are hurtling through the countryside outside London (you can see St Paul's Cathedral in the distance) at the rate of twelve knots, that is at great speed. Ibbetson also claimed it to be 'a real scene'. Coaching then can be considered the equivalent of motorcycling today: fast, exciting, and dangerous, just the sport for the Romantic hero. The great Dr Johnson said that if he had no duties and no concern for his future, he would spend his life 'driving briskly in a post-chaise with a pretty woman'.

Purchased, 29th March 1866 at the Christies, Lot 82, for £20, catalogued as sold from anonymous property. No other paintings are documented as having been bought by the V&A at this sale.

Historical significance: Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817) worked as a painter, printmaker and writer. Following an apprenticeship to the ship painter John Fletcher in Hull, Ibbetson became a scene painter. He moved to London in 1777, where he worked as both a scene painter and picture restorer. From 1785 he began to exhibit landscapes, genre scenes and portraits at the Royal Academy. In 1787-8 he was the personal draughtsman to Col. Charles Cathcart (d.1788) on the first British Mission to Beijing. The voyage also included visits to Madeira, the Cape of Good Hope and Java. Forced to return to England following Cathcart’s death, Ibbetson worked painting oils and watercolours of the subjects seen on his frequent tours. He also contributed a Scene from the “Taming of the Shrew” (untraced) to John Boydells (1719-1804) Shakespeare Gallery. Ibbetson also worked as an illustrator, providing works for John Church’s folio A cabinet of Quadrupeds (1805). The artist moved to the north of England in 1798. He spent time living in Liverpool and Edinburgh before settling in the town of Masham, North Yorkshire. In 1803 he published An Accidence, or Gamut, of Painting in Oils and Water Colours, part autobiography, part technical handbook. In this he sited Claude Lorrain and Aelbert Cuyp as masters of Landscape composition. In his paintings Ibbetson’s style often changes depending on the subject he has chosen to represent. Like his contemporary George Morland (17191-1797), Ibbetson is known to have painted works of different standards to be sold. Amongst these Ibbetson drew inspiration from vernacular subjects that observe different characters from society while often incorporating a sense of humour.

This painting shows various figures returning from Peckham Fair. Ibbetson took inspiration for a number of his works from rustic subjects such as this. In Jack in all his glory this is emphasized by an inscription on the back stating that the painting is “A real scene”. The figure of Jack can be identified as the seaman standing on top of the coach and wielding the coachman’s whip. An archetypal hero known for emerging triumphant through his cleverness despite being a foolish character, “Jack” often appears in British narratives and popular culture. Ibbetson was particularly fond of representing sailors. Works including Sailors Carousing in the Long Room at Portsmouth (1802, Greenwich, National Maritime Museum), painted seven years after Jack in all his glory, show the artist’s fascination with this subject.

Ibbetson often introduces an element of humour, derived from the direct observation of people, in to his paintings. This can be seen in the characters included in the various groups here, particularly with the parson running behind the coach after his wig, which is suspended from a figure’s gun. Also the group of a youth and two women appear to move in an intoxicated dance behind the carriage in a dance to the music played by two fiddlers.

The depiction of the landscape suggests that Ibbetson took inspiration for the painting from the site and environs of Peckham Fair. His paintings reflect the artist’s preference for a factual representation of a landscape as opposed to an idealized one, becoming popular in Romantic art at the time. In the distance is the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral presiding over the City, effectively locating this scene to south of London.

By the late eighteenth century the annual Peckham Fair had been established for around two hundred years, although tradition suggests it went back to the time of King John (1167-1216). In the late eighteenth century Peckham fair was a rowdy and important local event. Ibbetson refers to this in the group of a youth and two women who appear in a dishevelled state of intoxication. Held near Peckham Road, this fair could be seen on one of the main routes in to London. This meant that it was frequented by sailors on leave at Portsmouth or Southampton, returning to London. The fair became such a rowdy event that it was abolished in 1827.

FA.247[O]