Copy of William Hogarth's satire on the "bad taste of the town", with different verses engraved below. The image is of a composite street scene with a theatre on either side and an "Academy of Arts" (Lord Burlington's recently remodelled house in Piccadilly) beyond; on the left, a fool and a devil are leading a crowd of masqueraders into the Opera House in the Haymarket from which hang a banner advertising an opera (based on British Museum satire no. 1768 with the singers Cuzzoni, Senesino and Berenstadt) and a sign for "Dr. Faux's [Isaac Fawkes] Dexterity of Hand", the impressario John James Heidegger leans from an upper window; on the right, a crowd is flocking to see the pantomime "Dr Faustus"; in the centre, a woman pushes a wheelbarrow of waste paper including volumes of Congreve, Dryden, Ottway, Shakespeare, Addison, and Ben John[son]; the gate of the Academy beyond is topped with statues of Michelangelo, Raphael and William Kent, admired by three gentlemen."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Bad taste of the town
Description:
Titles, state, publisher, and date from Paulson., Text and image on one plate., Two columns of four lines of verse engraved below image: Long has the stage productive been, Of offsprings it could brag on, But never 'till this age was seen, A wind-mill and a dragon. O Congreve, lay they pen aside, Shakespear, thy works disown, Since monsters grim, * nought beside. Can please this senseless town., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Cf. No. 1742 in Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 2., Copy of Hogarth print. See Paulson, R. Hogarth's graphic works (3rd ed.), no. 44., On page 26 in volume 1., Ms. note in Steevens's hand above print: Copy., and Lengthy ms. note in Steevens's hand to the right of print describing how the print was pirated very soon after its publication.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Heidegger, John James, 1659?-1748, Senesino, -1759?, Kent, William, 1685-1748, Cuzzoni, Francesco, approximately 1680-1759, Fawkes, Isaac, -1731, Burlington, Richard Boyle, Earl of, 1694-1753, and Hercules (Roman mythological character),
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character), City & town life, Clergy, Costumes, Dogs, and Masquerades
Volume 1, page 33. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
"A man on horseback in a street with his arms around two women, one of whom is crying at right, an old lady sat in profile in the foreground holding a bunch of flowers and a dog drinking from a fountain behind, a man watching the farewell with crossed arms at left, a church building behind a high wall before which a carriage is waiting behind; circular design, after Henry William Bunbury."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text on later state., State before title and verses added below image. For the final state, see British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: 1872,0511.128., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Mounted on page 33 in volume 1 of: Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs., and Sheet annotated by Horace Walpole in ink below image: Departure of La Fleur from Montreuil in Sterne's Sentimental Journey.
Publisher:
Publish'd May 28th, 1781, by Watson & Dickinson, No. 158 New Bond Street
A scene in London, possibly near St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, shows a musician at an open window holding his ears against the noise of the street; a pregnant ballad-seller chants while her baby cries and a parrot above her head on the lamp post squawks; a milkmaid and other street-traders cry their wares; one small boy plays a drum while another urinates under the startled gaze of a small girl who holds a rattle and stands by a house made of toy blocks; an itinerant oboist plays; a dustman carries his basket and a bell; a knife-grinder sharpens a cleaver, a dog barking at his feet; on the roof at the right two cats fight (both shown with arched backs) just beyond the chimney from which a chimney sweep emerges
Description:
Title based on published original., Date based on Dent's years of activity., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., Copy of: Paulson, R. Hogarth's graphic works (3rd ed.), no. 152, Ms. note in pencil in Steevens's hand above print: Specimen of Trusler's book., and On page 103 in volume 2.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Topic):
Blocks (Toys), Cats, Children, City & town life, Chimney sweeps, Dogs, Musical instruments, Musicians, Noises, Occupations, Parrots, Street vendors, and Urination