1772

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

The TRUE HEARTY ENGLISHMAN, or BLOOD to the BACK BONE

267
Printed for Bowles & Carver, Map & Printsellers No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard, London

Two portly drinkers look out at the viewer, one over the shoulder of the central figure, who appears to be speaking as he pours a last drop out of a wine glass. He wears a sash over his coat, his fellow a felt hat. A large cannister with a flip lid sits on a table in front of them. The verse reads:

Some Fools in drinking must have Rules confind;
Our Soul above ne'er leaves a Drop behind.

Dorothy George's linking of the Carington Bowles and Bowles and Carver print numbers to publication date would place this print in 1772.

32.8 x 25 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (772.12.0.5)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

High Life below Stairs, or MUNGO addressing my Ladys Maid

Martin pinxt. Umpheys fecit.

207
Printed for Robt Sayer, No. 53 in Fleet Street, as the Act directs 1st Jan 1772

A maid seated at a tea table is embraced by a black servant who speaks as he gazes into her eyes. On the table before them is a wine decanter and two glasses. Seated to the right with his back to the lovers, another black servant tilts his chair to turn toward them as he plays a horn or trumpet. Both men are well-dressed with small wigs and cocked hats. The book open on the floor may be Ovid's Art of Love, and the corner of a painting that protrudes from behind heavy drappery also suggests an erotic subject. The subtext reads: "For Wine inspires us, and fires us, with Courage, Love, and Joy &c."

31.7 x 24.9 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (772.1.1.2), Yale Center for British Art (B1970.3.970)

Courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

The Sausage Woman or a SCENE in Covent Garden

Martin pinxt Umfrays fecit

London, Printed for Robt Sayer, No 53 in Fleet Street as the Act Directs 1st Jany 1772.

The sausage woman (c.) stands at a small table with brazier and hands two sausages on a plate to a little girl, the smallest of three raggedly dressed children seated on low stools. As the sausage woman reaches toward the child, she grins and glances sideways at a tall man who bites the sausage, perhaps suggestively, with an exaggerated grimace. Behind them a woman holding a baby looks on. In the left foreground a boy writes in a notebook that he holds down near his waist. Several more sausages fry in a pan on the brazier. The background is a storefront.

32.3 x 24.8 cm.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (1951-430)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

A SCENE in COVENT GARDEN, Or the Modern Bloods Kicking up a Dust

Wm. Humphrey Inven. delin et sculp

London, Printed for Robt Sayer No 53 in Fleet Street as the Act directs 10 Jany 1772

In the center a gentleman stands with his long walking stick raised to strike the man kneeling (r.) before him who holds up his hand to ward off the blow. The fallen man with his loose hair, wide-belt, and overcoat appears a Watchman who has tried to restrain these revelers. His lanthern lies at their feet. A woman standing beside the assailant places her hand on his shoulder to restain him. Behind another gentleman (r.) reaches high with his stick to club an overhanging light, while another looks on amused. In the background, a fourth gentlemen (l.) kisses a second woman, possibly a tart.

32.6 x 24.7 cm.
Library of Congress (PC3+1772)

Private Collection

THE HUMOURS OF THE PANTHEON

Wm. Humphery delin et fecit.

London. Printed for Robt. Sayer No. 53 Fleet Street as the Act directs 28 Jany 1772

The scene is a upper gallery of the Pantheon. At center is a long table with tea, cakes, plates, and utensils. A woman (r.) caresses the chin of a gentleman who points across the table to a male companion (l.). This gentleman--a macaroni caricature in profile with hooked nose, sharp chin, and elaborate wig and queue--flirts with two prostitutes , the closest of whom has ducked coyly behind her fan. In the foreground right, a little girl rides a gentleman's walking stick like a hobby horse in a manner that takes on the character of a phallic joke. In the background can be seen other couples along the far gallery. The inscription reads:

The Romans as all Bards agree on
Adorn'd with Gods their grand Pantheon.
And our Pantheon brings to light
A Store of Goddesses as bright://
But should you entertain a Notion,
Theirs warm'd their Priests with more Devotion,
Our Goddesses as Numbers tell
Can warm their Worshippers as well.

The image and poem points to the class mixing enabled by pleasure gardens such as the Pantheon or in Frances Burney's Evelina, Vauxhall or Marylebone Gardens.

32.5 x 24.9 cm.
Library of Congress (PC3+1772)

Sayer's image reverses a image that had appeared as The Pantheon in Oxford Street, a few days earlier, inscribed "Edward delint Humphry fecit" and "Printed for B. Byron near the Royal Exchange Publish'd according to the Act of Parliament, Jany 20 1772." Beyond the title and inscription, the only variations are in the second line of verse where "Adorn'd" is replaced with "Bedeckt" and minor changes to figures in the far gallery. The three figures on the left, close cropped, are catalogued by George as a miniature, The Pantheon Macaroni (BMC 5097).

32.5 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library(MEZYRK), Lewis Walpole Library (772.1.20.1), Yale Center for British Art (B1977.14.11474)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

The RAGE of JEALOUSY

Edwards delint. Jos. Saunders fecit

Printed for John Bowles, at No. 13 in Cornhill. Publish'd according to Act of Parliament, Jany 20, 1772

An angry husband or lover, whose dress indicates he is an artisan or craftsman, bursts in on a lovely young girl and knocks her off her chair. Her table crashes also, spilling teacups, a cannister of liquid, and a bottle onto the floor. A second chair, also overturned, and the several implements suggest she may be awaiting, or have met, a lover here. The girl cries out, the man looks furious, and behind him, and older woman with a hideous grin is an on-looker. She carries a wine bottle and may have urged him on to his attack. The inscription amplifies the title: "'Tis the high Pulse of Passion in a Fever."

The Rage of Jealousy may be the companion to another representation of matrimonial violence, O Rare Matrimony, also after Edwards and published by J.R. Smith in late 1771. The latter is reproduced in D'Oench (1999), p. 13.

32 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library (Satyr p.24), Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

COURTSHIP FOR MONEY/FAISANT AMOUR POUR L'ARGENT

Philip Dawe invenit et fecit

Publish'd according to Act of Parliament Febr 12, 1772 Printed for John Bowles at No. 13 in Cornhill

A young gentleman (r.) and woman sit together at a small round table. The handsome beau holds her right hand in his left upon the table and gestures with his right hand toward his breast. She is well-dressed and heavily jewelled and at least twenty years older than her suitor. He seems more involved in his gesture than in her, but her sidelong glance is fixed on him and she appears pleased with his suit. On the table are two bags of money, one open, and a thin volume which may be a marraige contract. Dawe's The Macaroni Courtship Rejected, (BM 4583) published a month later by John Bowles, may be a low-brow variation on this print.

32.5 x 25 5 cm.
New York Public Library (Satyr p.115)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

THE SUSPICIOUS HUSBAND

Martin pinxt. Wilson fecit.

Feby 16 1772 by W. Humphrey St. Martin's Lane

A lady (l.) seated at a writing desk, with quill and candlestick, seals a letter that she appears about to hand to the maid who stands before her. The painting upper left of Cupid carrying a letter suggests the letter's nature. To the far right and slightly to the back, the husband peeks out wide-eyed from behind a curtain.

32.5 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library (MEZYRK), Lewis Walpole Library (identical image, inscriptions, and date, but printseller is "R. Marshall, N4 Aldermary Church Yard,"772.2.16.2)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

LADY NIGHTCAP AT BREAKFAST

Printed for Carington Bowles, May & Printseller, No. 69 in St. Pauls Churchyard. Publish'd as the Act directs, 27 Feb. 1772

A gentlewoman, whose nightcap is secured around her large hairdressing with a ribbon, raises a pastry to her mouth as a black servant (l.) stands beside her holding a teapot. She sits at a round tea table on which she rests her right elbow. On the table is a tray with a creamer and sugarbowl and teacup as well as a small plate with another pastry and a book, a small volume, that rests upon a letter. A small spaniel lies on a round stool in the lower left corner.

33.9 x 25.2 cm.
Library of Congress (title only, PC2+n.d.)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

THE JEALOUS MAIDS

John Collett pinxt. Robt. Laurie fecit

Publishd as the Act directs, 2d March 1772. Printed for Robt. Sayer, No. 53 in Fleet Street, London.

The scene is below stairs in a kitchen, spoon and warming pan on the wall beneath a shelf of plates. A well-dressed footman (r.) leans on the back of a chair and gazes at a seated maid who speaks to him as she caresses a small cat on the table before her. Another maid stands to the left mending a shirt. She looks up from her sewing to cast a disapproving glance at the maid in the center who has captured the footman's attention. Two kittens play in a basket set on a chair to the far left front. A poster behind and center on the wall comments on the action with the inscription,"The Rival Maids." The verse below reads:

His Lordship loves the Amourous Game;
His Gadding Lady does the same;
The Maids will as their Mistress do,
The Footman apes his Master too.

The image is companion to The Rival Millaners (BMC 4594).

23.9 x 33.8 cm.
Huntington Library (BMX 1772 Pr.Box 212.2/96), Lewis Walpole Library (772.3.2.3).
The New York Public Library (MEZYRK)has two versions of this print without verse; one hand-inscribed The Rival Cooks, the other a French edition titled, Les Servantes Rivales.

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

A SCENE in the PARK

Publish'd March 9, 1772 by Wm Humphrey, St. Martin's Lane

An outdoor scene with subtitle "Dr. Tiptoe the Essence of a fine Old Gentleman & Miss Prim the Quintessence of a fine Young Lady," shows a couple together in the park. He is older with a large nose, a toothy grin, and billowy wig. Balanced by his walking stick he walks affectedly on tip-toe carrying his cocked hat under his arm and an umbrella in his right hand. A sword finishes out his numerous accessories. Her finery includes a pleated day cap that covers an enormous wig, shawl, apron, and pleated gown. Both wear shoes with buckles. Looking prim and demure, she holds a fan to her cheek as she looks down at a small dog.

32.4 x 25 cm.
Library of Congress (PC3+1772)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

DOCTOR BLOWBLADDER discovering the PERPETUAL MOTION

Printed for Carington Bowles, Map & Printseller, No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard, London. Publish'd as the Act directs 16 March 1772

An aging doctor in a curled wig takes the pulse of a pretty young woman who shyly looks away as he clasps her wrist. She is seated on a sofa while he appears to be kneeling beside her. He holds the handle of a walking stick to his mouth and stares at her out of the corners of his eyes. That he is a quack is indicated by the vial labelled "Blessed Medicine" that pokes out of his coat pocket.

32.8 x 25 cm. Library of Congress (PC3+1772), Yale Center for British Art (date erased, B19703.789), Lewis Walpole Library (colour, 772.3.16.1)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

A Real Scene on the Parade at Bath

London. Publish'd March 21st 1772, by H. Parker, No. 82, Cornhill

This print appears an outdoor version of Macaroni Courtship, and resembles William Humphrey's figures from the early '70s. In profile a young macaroni (l.), remarkable for the braid and knot work of his coat and his over-sized hairdress and queue, gazes with adoration at the large figure of a widow in the center. She is wrinkled and reveals buck teeth as she smiles at her beau and places her hand on his shoulder. With her other hand she leans on a cane. The elaborate pleating and the ruffles of her black silk widow's gown and hat would indicate she is a wealthy, as does the dress of her turbaned black servant, a boy who stands behind her. In the distance, a more plainly dressed couple glance over at them and smile as they pass on the street. The untitled and uninscribed Lewis Walpole Library image bears the hand-written subtext: "Pshaw! there's no Trusting you Macaronis." Surviving impressions with title, printseller, and date include the text: "Pshaw, we can't trust ye, old Lavinia cries, /You Macaronis are so used to Lies."

33.1 x 24.9 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (untitled and uninscribed, 772.3.21.1)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

The ENGLISH SHAVER or FRENCHMAN in the SUDS

Publish'd March 24 1772 by W. Humphrey at the Shell Warehouse in St. Martin's Lane

A Frenchman sits center facing forward as a beefy English barber (l.), his back turned three-quarters to the viewer lifts the Frenchman's nose to shave his upper lip. The Frenchman gives the barber a nervous sidelong glance and smile. A air of danger to the Frenchman's nose may be suggested by the two busts on a high shelf behind that look like severed heads. This sense is reinforced by the bust of a woman that serves as the wig stand on the table to the right. The figure has an alarmed expression that cuts against its neutral function.

32 x 24.5 x 32 cm.
New York Public Library (MEZZC 135), Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (1973-291)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

THE PANTHEON

Martin pinxt. W. Humphrey fecit March 24th 1772 by W. Humphrey at the Shell Warehouse St. Martin's Lane Price 1.0

The scene is the assembly hall of the Pantheon with thirteen figures. A boy in a feathered costume is leading a heavy man (r.) who leans on his walking stick and points to another older man (l.)in the foreground who wears spectacles and carries a cane. Behind, a man stands alone (r.) and two women, one with a prominent fan, chat behind the entering man and boy. The spectacled man appears to have a young man and woman as his companion. Behind them (c.) stand two men, one very short, and to the left, two men and woman, one man also short. The faces are caricatured but may have been recognizable to contemporaries. The heavy older man with the walking stick, for instance, resembles contemporary images of Dr. Johnson.

32.5 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library (MEZYRK BM5097A)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

Teeth Drawn with a Touch

Wilson del et fect

Publish'd April 15th 1772 by W. Humphrey in St. Martins Lane

A large man (l.) sits stiffly on a stool as a small dentist wearing a wig and long queue looks into his mouth and probes with an instrument. The dentist braces himself against the man's leg and chair. In the background, a maid in a pleated cap (r.) kneels on a chair and steadies the table to the patient's left with both hands.

32.5 x 25 cm.
Library of Congress (PC3+1772), Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (1956-287)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

MACCARONI COURTSHIP

208
Printed for Carington Bowles, No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard London, Publish'd as the Act directs (erased)

In this smaller re-engraving of Courtship for Money, the positions and gesturing of the young macaroni and older woman are similar to the Dawes mezzotint. He is more in profile here, however, and her long nose and spiked chin more exaggerated. Backing off the perspective tends to center the bags of money, which are larger and more prominent than in the earlier print. See below The Lilly-White Maccaroni and The Jelly-House Maccaroni; the numerical sequencing of this series of miniatures, similar subject and the unusual spelling of macaroni supports a 1772 date for this print.

13.5 x 11 cm.
New York Public Library (Satyr p.11)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

The LILLY-WHITE MACCARONI

210
Printed for Carington Bowles, No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard London, Publish'd as the Act directs (erased)

A macaroni sits facing right gazing into an oval mirror while he holds a small bag containing snuff or perfumed powder to his nose. Behind him a hairdresser with a long pigtail seems to be adding a bagged queue to the macaroni's wig. See below The Jelly-House Maccaroni where similar size, title, and subject, and sequential numbering indicates a 1772 date for this print.

13.5 x 11 cm. New York Public Library (MEZYRK), Lewis Walpole Library (774.0.4)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

The JELLY-HOUSE MACCARONI

211
Printed for Carington Bowles, No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard, London. Publishd as the Act directs 17 Apr 1772

A young gentleman in a flat hat from which protrudes a large queue kisses the cheek of a pretty woman as he rests one hand upon her bosom. She clasps that arm with one hand and touches the back of the other to his chin. The significance of "jelly-house" here is obscure, but the context suggests a brothel. The numbering indicates this miniature is the next in a series after The Lilly-White Maccaroni.

14 x 11.3 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (772.4.17.2)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

THE ENTERPRIZING CHIMNEY SWEEPER

Publish'd April 26, 1772 by W. Humphrey at the Shell Warehouse, St. Martins Lane.

In this kitchen scene, a short chimney sweep (l.) embraces a tall kitchen maid (r.), holding a wooden spoon, who smiles down at her blackened and sooty suitor. Behind him is a brick oven with copper cookingware hanging above it. Behind her is a fireplace from which another chimney sweep, a child, looks on. On its mantle are two candlesticks and a pestle. A bill or broadsheet and an chopping knife hang above it. The verse reads,

So fine a Girl! you must belie her,
Would never let that Sweep come nigh her,//
Or fine or not, the Thing was done,
And Kitty lik'd the Sweepers fun.

A version of this image was catalogued by Stephens: The Young Sweep in Love, or the House-Maid's Conquest, (BMC 4589), here published by Carington Bowles though with a different verse. Since the date and number from the Bowles have been erased, one cannot tell whether the Humphrey or the Bowles is a borrowing.

32.5 x 25.1 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library(colour, 772.4.26.1)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

The CALM RETURN of the CITY MILITIA from a STORM

An officer and four militiamen march facing left. The officer is fat and carries a halberd; his coat, sash, and cocked hat suggest a uniform. His men, carrying rifles and bayonets, are a rag-tag lot, one walking with a cane, another with a wooden leg. They march along a stone building wall on which a sign or leaflet is posted. Only the first man behind the officer turns away to read it. This print resembles The Victorious Return of the City Militia, after storming the Dunghill at Bunhill Fields, and obliging the Garrison to surrender at discretion, (BM 4578) printed for Carington Bowles, May 1, 1772, though the individual figures differ, and The Calm Return. . . is drawn with more detail. The Library of Congress does hold an impression of BMC 4578 with an abbreviated title, The Triumphant Return of the City Militia, as does the Newberry Library with the title, Relieving Guard in a Garrison (See below).

16.2 x 12 cm.
Library of Congress (PC2+n.d.)

Courtesy of the Newberry Library

THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN of the City Militia

Despite its variant and abbreviated title, this image is The Victorious Return of the City Militia, after storming the Dunghill at Bunhill Fields, and obliging the Garrison to surrender at discretion (BMC 4578).

15.5 x 11.4 cm.
Library of Congress (PC2+n.d.)
13.7 x 11.2 cm. Newberry Library (colour, entitled Relieving Guard in a Garrison, numbered 218 and inscribed "Printed for Bowles & Carver, No. 69 St Pauls Church Yard. Published as the Act directs [erased], 1776-1783 Folder #4)." The figures are the same though the uniforms are more detailed and the background, rather than a plain wall, is the stone wall with battlements.

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

THE PAINTRESS

Publ'd May 15, 1772 by W. Humphrey, St. Martins Lane

A seated young woman in pleated cap paints a portrait on a box easel set on a round teatable. The model standing across from her is a grinning boy, a chimney sweep from the look of his ragged clothes, sooty face, and unkempt hair. The painting on the wall suggests dancing fauns and satyrs. The subtext quotes Pope, "The proper Study of Mankind is Man."

32.4 x 25 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (772.5.15.1), Library of Congress (PC3+1772)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

A Lady at Confession

Miller invt. et pinxt. R. Sayer Excudit Robt. Laurie fecit

Publish'd as the Act directs 20 May 1772

A young gentlewoman (r.) in a loose robe, pearls in her hair, stands beside a priest or monk at an altar, her head lowered in prayer. Though he rests his hand on a Bible, his surreptitious glance at her from the corners of his eyes suggests a less holy intent, as does a scroll with scriptural texts related to carnal sins, such as "From fornication and all other deadly sins Libera nos Domine,"'Tis better to Marry than burn, St. Paul," and "Thou shalt not commit Adultery." The altar is littered with other texts, rosaries, a cross, rising (l.) to a figure of Christ on the cross above a holy text propped open beside a candlestick.

36 x 27.7 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (772.5.20.3), Library of Congress (PC3+1772)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

Modern Refinement or the Two Maccaronis

Publishd June 4th 1772 by Francis Adams

A gentleman with a exaggerated nose, chin, eyebrows and an wig with enormous curls and queue steps in from the left. The seated woman he speaks to could be dressed up for a masquerade as a Spanish doña with her lace apron, embroidered dress and cloak. Her high wig is adorned with lace ribbons and pearls. Elaborate floral bouquets seem to protrude from their clothing like an exaggerated boutonniere or corsage, reminiscent of the strange botanical accessories in Love Alamode at the Yale Center for British Art.

31.7 x 24.8 cm.
Library of Congress (title only, PC2+n.d.), Yale Center for British Art (B1970.3.796)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University

A School Boy

B.Clowes fecit.

London. Printed for Robt Sayer, No. 53 Fleet Street, as the Act directs 26 June 1772

A small boy in profile holds his pen as he looks down at his school work.

26.2 x 22.5 cm.
Yale Center for British Art (B1970.3.844); Huntington Library (283000 36#60 & 61)

Courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

THE CONTENTED COBLER

Publish'd July 14th 1772 by W. Humphrey Opposite Cecil Court St. Martin's

A hefty cobbler works in his stall while over his shoulder (l.) a shrewish looking woman talks through a door to a fashionably dressed lady in a large hat, shawl, and lace gown, who holds a lady's shoe. The woman points to the shoe in the lady's hand as she talks and the cobbler seems to enjoy what he is hearing as he leans back to eavesdrop.

33.1 x 25.2 cm.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (1954-705)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

The BUTCHER'S WIFE dressing for the PANTHEON

P.Dawe fecit

Publish'd as the Act directs Sepr 3, 1772 by W. Humphrey

A heavy middle-aged woman in profile with a towering wig and small cap gazes at herself in her dressing table mirror. She wears low-cut gown with lace-fringed sleeves, multiple strings of pearls and large pearl pendent earrings. She seems intent on determining whether she should pin the flower she holds to her bosom. A door opens behind her (l.) and an amused boy, possibly the butcher's apprentice, looks on. The title underscores the prominence of the places like the Pantheon where persons of the "middling sort" could dress up and mix as equals with the upper classes.

32.5 x 25 cm.
New York Public Library (colour, MEZYRK), Library of Congress (PC3+1772)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

The MACARONI GALLANT JILTED

Metze pinxt. Dickenson fecit

Printed for John Bowles in No. 13 Cornhill.

A macaroni lays out gold pieces on a round table (r.) beside a closed fan. As he counts from his purse, a courtesan reclining on her bed beckons behind his back to a ruffian who emerges from behind a curtain (l.) carrying a whip. The inscription explains the situation:

To the Jilt says Sir Macaron, love me my Honey;
I am yours, returns She, but first down your Money. //
Tis done: when her Bully still ready at Call,
Whips in, and turns Macarons Honey to Gall.

Surviving impressions include the inscription, "Publish'd according to Act, Sepr. 29th 1772."

32 x 25 cm.
New York Public Library (no date, MEZYRK BM4583A)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

The Dutch Lover

London. Printed for Robt. Sayer, No. 53 Fleet Street as the Act directs 1st Octr 1772

A elderly man, wrinkled with long white hair under a cap, clasps a buxum young woman from behind, his hands on her shoulders. Her shift is open to expose one breast as she glances back at him and beckons teasingly with her finger.

13.5 x 11.2 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (772.10.1.1)

Courtesy of the Print Collectiion, New York Public Library

THE PATRIOTICK BARBER

Publish'd Nov. 9, 1772 by Frans. Adams in Bow Street Covent Garden

A barber, with razor in hand, turns away from his half-shaved customer (r.) to read a line a tall, thin tailor (l.) points out to him on a paper or broadsheet he has brought into the barber's shop. The tailor is raggedly dressed and carries a pair of shears in his coat pocket. The customer, half of whose face remains lathered, grabs at the barber'd coat pocket as if imploring him to finish. The profile features of one of two wig stands behind resemble Lord Bute. On the shelf above sit a row of hat or wig boxes, three with names inscribed-- Bras Crosby Esq., Fred Bull Esq., and Serjeant Glynn. The print plays on the significance of barber shops as centers for political activity and gossip. The verse reads:

Whilst Snip enjoys a Lick at Bute,
More than he would a Birthday Suit
See Quidnunc cannot Shave the Stranger//
Attentive to the nations Danger
Blest England nothing shall confound thee
Whilst thou'st such Guardian Angels round thee.

Unlike the later The Patriotick Barber of New York (BMC 5284) published by Sayer and Bennett in February 1775, there is here no reference to British America, though Adams' earlier print may be a source for the more well-known droll image of American resistence. There are similarities, however. For instance, The Patriotick Barber of New York, alone among the five British American prints numbered by Sayer and Bennett as an ensemble, has a verse subtext, six lines of verse like The Patriotick Barber that similarly urges the barber on in his patriotic zeal.

32 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library (MEZYRK)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, Library of Congress

TIMOTHY LUSTRING the SPOUTER waked out of his Reverie

A wife in house dress, a shrewish caricature, bursts into a room with a broom cocked over her head to come up behind a young gentleman, apparently her husband, who gazes out the window with an enraptured expression. He assumes a stage pose, feet spread and hands raised, imploring. In a doorway a small boy, who may be eating a piece of candy, stares at the woman. The verse reads:

You Rascal you Rogue cries Xantippe shouting
Must I go in Rags whilst you're sputtering & Spouting //
Ha! what you dont hear me! You thick headed Dunce
I'll find out a method to rouse you at once.

The young man is caught up in his enthusiasm for the stage. In this vein, the print is published in Christopher Lennox-Boyd et. al., Theatre: the Age of Garrick, p. 135, as a companion to Tragedy Burlesqued, or the Barber turned Actor (BMC 4783). The Lennox-Boyd print, unlike the cropped Library of Congress impression, includes the inscription, "Publish'd Nov. 20 1772 by Frans. Adams in New Street Covent Garden."

34.7 x 25.1 cm.
Library of Congress (title and verse only, PC2+n.d.)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Librarys

Fording the Brook

Grimm pinx. Dickenson fecit Published according to the Act 1 Decr 1772 Printed for John Bowles, at No. 13 in Cornhill

A man carries a large woman across a shallow brook on his shoulders. The perspective and her angry expression gives her face a porcine cast. In her left hand she carries a fan and in her right a walking stick raised as if to strike her bearer. From the left over a wall, a well-dressed young man and woman are amused on-lookers. The jingle below reads:

The rustic Collin from a Visit bears
Dry o'er the Brook the Partner of his Cares
Laugh at him those who list, his Load would sprain,
A dozen Macaronies to sustain.

Compare with Miss Returning from a Visit, or Thomas Fording a Brook with his Mistress from Sayer and Bennett, 1774.

32 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library (Satyr p.194)