Depicts two bearded figures in classical attire (possibly Tragedy and Comedy), the former leaning on a tomb while the latter gestures laughingly at a cracked and broken globe on which the countries of France, Canada and Great Britain are identified. A satyr (the Devil), stands holding his scythe before the globe, whence from the broken area of Great Britain emerges a procession of persons mounted on hobby horses, including royalty, clergy, and a man carrying a ship model and bags of money. Time flies above, lifting the curtain on the scene, while a putto with a bubble-pipe flies towards the globe. Within the bubble is a representation of Fortune. On the ground a monkey accosts an owl, while to the right an open scroll proclaims "Life is a jest," a possible reference to John Gay's Epitaph
Alternative Title:
Life is a jest
Description:
Title supplied by cataloger., Sheet cropped within plate mark., and Mounted to 20 x 14 cm.
Title from collective title on published state., Artist attributions from statements of responsibility on published state., Proof state of a plate published in: The lady's magazine, v. 3 (New Series) no. 12, December 1822. For a later state with collective title, captions etched under each image, and expanded statements of responsibility, see Lewis Walpole Library call no.: Babb-Beckford no. 81., and Two images on one plate, with printmaker's signature etched below lower image.
Title devised by curator., Signed by the artist in ink in lower right corner., and Date based on time period after the completion of Fonthill Abbey and before the final collapse of the tower.
Title from annotation in a modern hand written in pencil below plate mark., Artist and printmaker from pencil annotations in a contemporary hand below image: J. Buckler del. ; Thos. Higham., Probably a proof state., and Date based on the timing of the final collapse of the Fonthill Abbey tower, which occurred in 1825.
A man dressed in nightclothes sits in an armchair in front of a fireplace. His feet and legs are in bandages, and rest on a pillow. On a table next to him stands a bowl and spoon and a medicine bottle. He greets with enthusiasm a small dish of food being brought to him by a young woman
Description:
Title devised by curator., Date of production supplied by curator., This electronic record is derived from historic data and may not reflect our current information. Review and updating of records is ongoing., and Watermark 1824.
Subject (Topic):
Gout, Diet therapy, Sick persons, Food, and Servants
One in a series of prints published by Fores that parodies the infamous Mulready stationery released by the British Post Office in 1840. Each of the prints is numbered and centers on a different theme, e.g. Fores's comic envelopes, Fores's musical envelope, Fores's alderman envelopes, Fores's hunting envelopes, etc
Description:
Title supplied by cataloger., Other prints in the series attributed to John Leech and dated 1840. See British Museum onlne catalogue., and Description based on imperfect impression; sheet trimmed with loss of imprint statement and title.
Title devised by curator., Note below image: "Mr. Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting &c. Vol. IV, p. 22, speaking of the Cartoons at Hampton Court, observes that Sir James Thornhill "having made copious studies of the heads, hands and feet intended to publish an exact account of the whole, for the use of students: but this work has never appeared." As the present plate was found amoung others belonging to the late Mr. Hogarth, it is not impossible but that it might have been engraved by him for his father-in-law Sr. James's intended publication., Formerly attributed to Hogarth., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., On page 206 in volume 3., and Ms. note in Steevens's hand above print: (See Mr. Nichols's Book, 3d edit, p. 437).
Publisher:
Published as the Act directs May 14, 1781 by Mrs. Hogarth, at the Golden Head, Leicester Field