Directions to footmen [graphic] / Rowlandson inv.

Creator:

Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, printmaker.

Copyright Date:

[1807]

Physical Description:

1 print : etching with stipple on wove paper, hand-colored ; sheet 35.6 x 24.5 cm

Notes:

Also issued separately.
Five lines of text below title: Take off the largest dishes and set them on with one hand to shew the ladies your vigour and strength of back, but always do it between two ladies that if the dish happens to slip the soup or sauce may fall on their cloaths, and not daub the floor, by this practice, two of our brethren, my worthy friends, got considerable fortunes ...
Originally issued with publication date . Cf. No. 10918 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 8.
Plate from: Woodward, G.M. Caricature magazine, or Hudibrastic mirror. London : Thomas Tegg, [1808?], v. 4.
Plate numbered '273' in upper right corner.
Printmaker and date of publication from British Museum catalogue.
Text following imprint: Price one shilling col'd.
The word 'footmen' in the title was corrected from 'footman' by the etcher. 'A' was struck through and the letter 'E' was inserted above deletion.
Title etched below image.

Abstract:

"An untidy shock-headed footman stands letting a tureen slide on to the table so that its contents pour out; in his I. hand is a dish containing a leg of mutton, held so that joint and gravy fall to the floor. He stands between a hideous old woman at the head of the table (rigth) and a comely young one on her right. A fat maidservant follows the footman, holding a dish. Behind the man hangs an elaborately framed bust portrait of a grim-looking man wearing an early eighteenth-century wig. A cockatoo screams from a cage (l.). A dog sits behind the old woman's chair, a cat puts its fore-paws on the table to lap the spilt soup. Below the title: 'Take off the largest dishes, and set them on with one hand, to shew the ladies your vigour and strength of back, but always do it between two ladies, that if the dish happens to slip, the soup or sauce may fall on their cloaths, and not daub the floor, by this practice, two of our brethren, my worthy friends, got considerable fortunes. . . . When you carry up a dish of meat, dip your fingers in the sauce, or lick it with your tongue, to try whether it be good, and fit for your masters table - .' [Two quotations from Swift's 'Directions to Servants'.]"--British Museum online catalogue, description of original issue.

Variant Titles:

Directions to footman

Topics:

Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership.
Harvey, Francis--Ownership.
Johnstone, Henry Arthur--Ownership.
Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, artist.
Tegg, Thomas, 1776-1845, publisher.

Language:

English

Genre:

Etchings--England--London--1807.
Satires (Visual works)--England--1807.

Format:

Image

Rights:

The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Public

Call Number:

Auchincloss Rowlandson v. 8

Orbis Record:

8779182

Yale Collection:

Beinecke Library

Digital Collection:

General Collection, BRBL, Yale University

oid pointer:

11792752

Citation:

Grego, J. Rowlandson the caricaturist, v. 2, page 82

Extent of digitization:

Complete folder digitized.

OID:

11791948

PID:

digcoll:3996897