Sailors Drinking the Tunbridge Waters

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A young woman stands by the pump and offers a drink to a sailor who scratches his head. She says: "Be assured it is an excellent beverage for Gentlemen who have been a long time at sea." He answers: "Why lookee Ma-am I dont wish to be unpolite But if your Ladyships Honor pleases—I had rather hang fire—a bit—for d'ye see it gave our Poll, the belly ache—and D—n the Gripes, I never could bear them they twiddled me up decently when I was last in the Meditaranean." An elderly sailor at right tries to drink water and says: "D—d Queer Tipple to be sure!" Another sailor holds his drink and gives a coin to a small boy at right, saying, "Harkee young two-shoes—go and get me a pint of half and half and a Squeeze of Lemon —for D—n me if I could drink it neat if I was never to weigh Anchor Again."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art