This is the last in a series of kid drawings on ledger paper I found together, I think either by one boy done over a number of years, or perhaps by a couple of different makers, but all seeming to take inspiration from specific historical conflicts, though I'm not always sure their reference points. This one, with what looks to me a pirate of sorts at right, I might guess takes inspiration from one of the two Barbary Wars, fought with Tripoli (1801–1805) and Algiers (1815–1816). Much of what I personally love about these sorts of drawings is how vividly and viscerally one feels they lived in the present in the imagination of the maker, in this case with a really pretty fantastic energy invested in the extended and enlarged hand of our man with the sword! I also quite love the xxx in brown crayon just above it!

8” x 7”, in good condition with a rough right edge.