Mezzotint Satires with dates

The prints listed are dated either from the inscriptions required after 1770 under the copyright law or, where the inscribed date has been erased or trimmed in its North American archive, from dated impressions in British collections. For some impressions, particularly from the 1760s when dates are still often missing, dates have been inferred from details in a printseller's inscription, such as shop location and personal or commercial affiliations. Antony Griffiths (1984), Sheila O'Connell (1999) and Ellen D'Oench (1999) have been particularly helpful in making these distinctions. In the instance of Carington Bowles (and Bowles & Carver who inherited his plates), I have followed Dorothy George, BMC, Appendices, Vols. V & VI, in linking print numbers to dates. Prints are listed chronologically in this catalogue of "Dated Satires." An alphabetical listing can be found in the "Dated Index."

1761-1766 1767-1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778

1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789

1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800

Through 1760

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

[The Choice]

P. Mercier Pictor Principis Pinxit 1737 I. Faber fecit.

Sold by I. Faber at the Golden Head in Bloomsbury Square

A gentlemen (l.) propositions a young woman (c.), offering her coins bagged, stacked, and spread out on a table before her. Behind her to the right a solid looking man pulls up his sleeve as if to challenge the gentleman. The text explains:

By Pray'r, but more by Gold the Miser Swain
Would tempt ye Nymph to Love, but tempst in vain:
More kind she seems the Rustic Boar to prize,
With the Gust of Passion in his Eyes:
The First, on hopes of Gain alone would move;
The Latter, on mere Nature founds his Love:
This Picture hence this Moral may Impart
Nature's the Surest Guide to reach the Heart.

The title is from Chaloner Smith.

21.3 x 35.5 cm.
New York Public Library (untitled, MEZYRK BM2437A)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

[School for Girls]

Ph. Mercier invt. et pinxt. I. Faber fecit

Publish'd according to Act of Parliament 1739

In a school for young girls, an aging schoolmaster (l.) chucks his pretty pupil under the chin. The schoolmaster sits at a desk with pen, open book, and a tablet upon which he has been writing. The girl wears a feathered cap and holds a small book in her hand. Five other girls about the same age (10-12 years) stand by, one near the back of the group exposing her calf as she rolls up a stocking. This mezzotint reduces a larger painting, School for Girls, by Philip Mercier (?1689-1760) to posture size. The text underscores the satiric edge:

See with what Warmth the am'rous Dotard grins,
Admires, instructs, and in Instructing sins!
Nature's too prompt to kindle up Desire,
Without the Masters Touch to stir the Fire.//
Parents, beware what Guides for Youth you chuse,
Lest where They should admonish, They abuse.
Girls thus, indeed, may sooner learn What's What;
But some Instruction's better lost than got.

The painting is reproduced: Postle, p. 14

24.8 x 32.5 cm.
New York Public Library (untitled,MEZYRK Anon BM2437A)

A School of Boys

Ph. Mercier Invt et Pinxt

London. Printed for Robt. Sayer, Fleet Street

A schoolmaster (r.) holds a schoolboy by the ear and prepares to strike him with the stick in his right hand. The two boys closest (l.) look up sheepishly from their books, while the two farthest left, one with his back to the viewer, remain intent on their studies. This is a companion to School for Girls painted by Philip Mercier and like that print reduced to posture size. As with the companion piece, the verse directs the viewer to a moral that identifies a droll content for the image. The verse may in fact attribute more cruelty to the other boys than the picture itself supports:

This Scene but shews us, how we first began;
How practise the same lesson up to Man
From earliest Date some stand ye Buts of Laughter
And the School Blockhead is a Dunce hereafter. //
All are at Fallt by turns; Who first recovers
From the Deep Plunge, Insult ye found'ring Brother
In Courts, in Camps, at Bar, in every place,
The Rule is--Sneer the Party in Disgrace.

This image was probably first published as a companion to School for Girls earlier and is here reissued by Robert Sayer, probably in the 1750s or early 1760s. Both prints were staples in the stock offered in Sayer's catalogues into the 1790s.

21.7 x 32.8 cm.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation(1946-99)

Untitled [Ammon's great Son]

Ph. Mercier invt. et pinxt. I Faber fecit 1739

Publish'd according to the Act of Parliament

A beautiful young woman looks left gazing at her reflection in a mirror that rests on a dressing table, its back to the viewer. In her right hand she holds a cloth to her breast, bathing from the small bowl on the table. With her left hand she draws the dressing gown aside to reveal the other breast. The verse reads:

Ammon's great Son, who ravag'd Asia thro,
Sigh'd, that more Thrones were wanting to Subdue,
Ye slaves to Glory, and an empty Name,
I envy not your Thirst of toilsome Fame;
Go, take in Worlds by Conquest as you please,
Leave me but Master of two Globes like these.

Huntington Library (28300 36 #64)

A Venetian Courtezan

Ph.Mercier invt. et pinxt. I. Faber fecit 1739

Publish'd according to the Act of Parliament

Dressed in low cut dress trimmed with ruffles, the young woman looks boldly out, head slightly cocked to the right, and beckons with the forefinger of her left hand. Her right hand rests on the sill of a window or balcony. Though possibly a companion to [Ammon's great Son. . .] (above) the verse is more censorious.

How diff'rent Beauty from its Self appears,
When it the Garb of Art and Boldness wears;
Th'inveighing Nymphs, who labour to display
Too many Charms, oft their own Force betray:
For Affectation shocks, not tempts, the Sight;
And check Desire, where most it would invite.

Huntington Library (283000 36 #64)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

Teague's Ramble at Charing Cross

J. McArdel Fecit

Publish'd according to Act of Parlmt Aug 26 1747 Sold by T. Jeffreys at the Corner of St. Martins Lane Charing Cross and W. Herbert at the Gold Globe on London Bridge

Supported by a woman who holds his cocked hat, the drunken Teague is led through the night by a link boy with a torch. Another woman reaches into his waistcoat pocket from the left. The verse tells the tale:

So rambling Teague, with Vacant Visage joggs,
Afar from his Barren wilds and Native boggs.
A link boy points the Thoughtless Oaf his Way,
So Will O'th Wisp of leads the Kern Astray;//
A nymph and Baw'd, his wand'ring footsteps
Wait, And leave his pockets empty as his pate;
The raving rakeshell finds to late his Loss,
Then curses night intrigues and Charing Cross.

Cat: Chaloner Smith, p. 907

32 x 25 cm.
New York Public Library(MEZYRK BM2874A)

MORNING

Ph. Mercier Pinxt. Richd Houston Fecit.

London, Printed for Robert Sayer opposite Fetter Lane Fleet Street. Price 1 s 6 d.Published according to the Act of Parliament Jan 7 1758

A young woman sits at breakfast holding a teacup and saucer in her right hand and with her left grasps the napkin on the small round table before her. A tea set and bowl in a tray rest on the table. She is dressed in a low-cut gown, a flowered wrapper and a light cap tied under her chin. The verse reads:

Just risen from Repose fair Delia see,
Sipping with secret joy her favorite Tea;//
Thus does the Nymph her Morning hours waste,
And smiles indulgent on the glad Repast.

32.6 x 25.2 cm.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation(colour, 1962-288))

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

The Parents Scheme or MARRIAGE CONSULTATION

C.Froost Pinxit. Wilson Fecit.

London Printed for Robt. Sayer, Print & Map Seller, opposite Fetter Lane, Fleet Street

The father (r.) sits with his wife standing by. He listens intently to the man (c.) who appears to be negotiating for his middle-aged son, Johnny, sitting (l.) stiffly next to his father. The young girl peeks in through the door. The verse records the transaction and her response:

Well, quoth her Parents, be it so:
Sukey was ready Months ago.
Had but an Husband offer'd:
Eighteen my friends a ticklish time:
Let Johnny take her in her prime:
You know the Sum I proffer'd.//
Yes to be sure! My Sukey cries.
(While her intended Spouse She Eyes)
As Youth and Spirit hint her:
That lifeless Clod to fill my Arms:
The very thought my Rage alarms.
Shall Summer Marry Winter?

The paintings on the wall,a woman's portrait and seascape with sailing vessels, as well as the dress gives the print a Dutch character. The inscription to Sayer designating his shop "opposite Fetter Lane" appears to date the print to around 1760.

This image and its companion, Love declar'd . . .(below), are based somewhat loosely on two pastels by the Dutch painter, Cornelis Troost (1696-1750) drawn from scenes in Thomas Asselijn's comedy Jan Claasz. or the Supposed Servant Girl (1682). Though the subtext here indicates the suitor is one of the two men, in the play two Mennonite brethren call on behalf of their friend Reinier for Saartje's hand. The beard and mustache have been added to the man seated left so he will resemble the suitor in the next impression. The image is reversed from that in the original painting, Jan Claasz. or the Supposed Servant Girl: the Marriage Proposal to Saartje Jans (1738), included in the collection of Mauritshuis, The Hague.

31.7 x 25.1 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library (colour, engravers indicated but no publisher's inscription, 765.0.88)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

Love declar'd from RENE to SAROTTE

C. Froost Pinxit. Wilson Fecit.

London. Printed for Robt Sayer, Map & Print Seller, opposite Fetter Lane, Fleet Street

A young man stands stiffly as he declares his love for the seated young woman. Her elbow on a shallow table or window sill, she strokes her cheek with her fingers and looks amused as she rejects his suit.

Upon my Word, 'twill never do!
Cease, formal fool, to sigh and 'Woo!
Or learn a Lover's Duty;
Likely, no Doubt, with Hems and Haws,
And stupid Looks and rev'rend Saws,
To charm a blooming Beauty.//
Re. . .Those Eyes were meant to roll with Blyss;
Those Lips to fell th' inspired Kiss;
S. . .Not thine, I dare engage;
Trust me, a sprightlier Bird, Mynheer,
(I think she speaks it with a sneer)
Shall warble from my Cage.

Sayer's 1775 catalogue lists this print as a Dutch courtship and companion to The Parents Scheme or Marriage Consultation. Like the other, this is based loosely on a pastel by Cornelis Troost of a scene from Asselijn's comedy Jan Claasz. or the Supposed Servant Girl. Here also the girl rejects the proposal, but in the play she does so because she is in love with Jan Claasz., of whom her parents disapprove due to his debauchery. With Jan Claasz., disguised as the servant girl, she succeeds in consummating their match and securing her parents' grudging approval. The image is reversed from that in the original painting, Jan Claasz. or the Supposed Servant Girl: Reinier Adriaansz.'s Declaration of Love (1737), included in the collection of Mauritshuis, The Hague.

31 x 25 cm.
New York Public Library (Satyr p.78)

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

ASIA!

Amiconi Pixt Moor Fecit

Sold by I. McArdel at the Goldenhead in Covent Garden & R. Sayer Opposite Fetter Lane, Fleet Street

Two men in turbans and robes sit together, one (l.) leaning to draw smoke through a long pipe from a billowing urn. He sits on a bundle or barrel of goods. The other sitting behind a barrel and holding a small axe watches. Behind them another man rides a camel, shading himself from the sun with an umbrella. The foliage is tropical with a prominent palm tree. The verse focuses on the plenty of Asia:

ASIA! Thy Trade, thy Silks, and Spicy Stores,
But ill compensate for a Land of Slaves.
Whilst LIBERTY disdains to bless thy Shore,
And LUXURY thy nerv'less Sons depraves.

31.3 x 24.8 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library(760.0.3)

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

AMERICA!

Sold by I. McArdel at the Goldenhead in Covent Garden & R. Sayer Opposite Fetter Lane, Fleet Street

The verse accompanying this companion print to Asia! turns the satiric edge back on a colonial homeland corrupted by imported wealth. The emphasis on enslavement could echo the mounting agitation in Britain during the late 18th Century for abolition of the slave trade

AMERICA! of wealth thou modern Mine,
What if by Conquest we possess thy Shore,
Thy Savages reveng'd should less repine,
Since we're the Slaves of thy corrupting ORE.

31.3 x 24.8 cm.
Lewis Walpole Library(760.0.2)