Description

Squaring the Yards is a term of nautical origin from C18.

It meant that the yards, the spars that carried the sails, were to be set at right angles to the keel line from bow to stern, a state that was known as square by the lifts and braces when the spars were set horizontal. (The lifts and braces were part of the running rigging; the lifts raised and lowered the yards and the braces turned them). At sea, squaring the yards meant that the ship was sailing directly downwind.
After anchoring, square the yards was an instruction to make the ship tidy and ready for sailing again.

Original watercolour on paper signed lower right, mounted, and framed.