A hand-coloured etching representing John (or Jack) Crawford nailing a flag to the top of a mast using a marlin spike as a hammer. He wears a waistcoat, neck-cloth, short jacket and trousers with bare feet. His legs are wrapped around the mast as he holds the flag in his left hand and raises the spike in his right. Lettered beneath the image with a lengthy title: ‘John Crawford of Sunderland Durham. The Sailor who Nailed the Flag to the Main Top Gallant mast head, on board the Venerable, Lord Duncan’s Ship, after being once Shot away by the Dutch Admil de Winter. Drawn by Mr Orme on board for the Express purpose of Introducing into his Picture of Ld Duncan’s Victory now Engraving by Subscription & which includes Portraits of the Admirals & Officers who so Gloriously Distinguished themselves on the ever Memorable 11th of October 1797. Proposals may be had & Subscriptions Received by Mr Orme.’ Underneath is the publication line: ‘Pub. According to Act of Parliament Nov. 21st 1797 by Mr Orme, No. 23 Holles St. Cavendish Sq. & E. Orme 25 Conduit St., Hanover Sq. London.’ As the inscription notes, the print represents an episode from the Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797, when Admiral Adam Duncan’s British fleet defeated Vice-Admiral Jan Willem de Winter’s Dutch fleet. In recognition of his actions during the battle, Crawford was awarded a state pension of £30 per year. The actions of ordinary sailors were a subject of scrutiny at this time, after the Nore and Spithead mutinies in spring 1797. These mutinies gave rise to doubts about lower deck loyalty. They also demonstrated that sailors were capable of independent thought and action, making it more difficult to maintain cultural stereotypes which treated sailors as anonymous or insignificant figures. Perhaps for this reason, Crawford’s heroism received significant public attention: he was named in the press and celebrated as an individual. Furthermore, his behaviour could be read as reassuring evidence that British sailors were once again loyal after the mutinies. This print was published by Orme on 21 November 1797 to advertise his proposed painting of the Battle of Camperdown and the inscription solicits subscriptions for an engraving after the painting. He subsequently finished the painting (see BHC3100) and the engraving of the picture with published with an accompanying engraving on 20 August 1800 (see PAH7914 and PAI7800). Orme was a miniaturist and engraver, who in 1792 became the impresario of a history painting and print-publishing business. Initially, he worked in collaboration with the American artist Mather Brown, who produced paintings of recent events which Orme then engraved and published, the pair dedicating themselves to the representation of military and naval subjects. Orme referred to his Holles Street exhibition room and print shop as the ‘British Naval and Military Gallery’ and continued to operate under this title after his partnership with Brown dissolved sometime around 1797, at which point Orme took on the role of painter as well as engraver and publisher. The representation of Duncan’s victory was one of his first solo projections. (Updated April 2019.)