Conjugal affection

description below

“A wealthy middle class family gathered in a room, the father standing in the centre, leaning on the back of a chair which his youngest child stands upon, embracing him, a son standing beside pointing to an open book and the mother sitting at left, gazing to right while another daughter beside plays with a kitten, a bird in a cage on table beside; at right an older son looks out anxiously at the ships on river beyond, his coat over his arm..”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • Printmaker: Thew, Robert, 1758-1802, printmaker.
  • Title: Conjugal affection [graphic] : from the original picture presented to the city by Aldn. Boydell / painted by Robt. Smirke R.A. ; engraved by Robt. Thew, Hist. Engraver to H.R.H the Prince of Wales.
  • Publication: [London] : Pub. Sept. 29, 1799, by J. & J. Boydell, No. 90 Cheapside, and at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall, London, [29 September 1799]

Catalog Record

799.09.29.01++

Acquired April 2023

Scarcity in India

description below

“Two sailors are bargaining with a scantily clad Indian girl with a basket of fruit. Although pineapples were luxury goods at this time, the mirror, and in particular the watch offered by the seaman on the left represent a disproportionately high price for the fruit. The girl’s hairstyle resembles a pineapple reinforcing the point that she is the object of their attention rather than her wares. The two men are dressed in their shore-going clothes with buckled shoes and silk stockings. They wear baggy cotton trousers and short jackets. The sleeve of the left-hand sailor has a mariner’s cuff outlined in white piping and his wool jacket has metal buttons, which are probably made of brass. He wears a straw hat and his hair is done in a pigtail or queue. Both men have large silk neckerchiefs probably originating in India. Sailor’s dress was much the same in the merchant service and the navy. There was no uniform for the lower ranks at this time.”–Collections online, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

  • Printmaker: Knight, Charles, 1743-1827?, printmaker.
  • Title: Scarcity in India [graphic] / painted by H. Singleton ; engraved by C. Knight.
  • Publication: [London] : Published Jan. 1st, 1794, by C. Knight at Wm. Bonds, No. 98 Charlotte Street, Rathbone Place, London, [1 January 1794]

Catalog Record

794.01.01.11++

Acquired April 2023

Danse des Negres dans L’Isle de St. Dominique

description below

A couple dance together under a lush tree with large fruit hanging from its branches. They are accompanied by two men playing instruments, a drum and tambourine as one woman claps along to the music. Others, including a small girl, stand and converse.

  • Printmaker: Ruotte, Louis Charles, 1754-1806, printmaker.
  • Title: Danse des Negres dans L’Isle de St. Dominique [graphic] = A Negroes dance in the Island of St. Dominica / A. Brunias pinx. ; L.C. Ruotte direx.
  • Publication: Se vend a Paris : Chez Depeuille, rue St. Denis, la boutique attenant St. Jacques l’Hopital, et au Palais Royal au Pavillon près le bassin, [approximately 1778]

Catalog Record

778.00.00.72+

Acquired February 2023

British plenty

description below

“A sailor on shore, holding a bottle, with a well-dressed young prostitute on each arm, the one on his [left] arm carries a cauliflower while the other holds up her dress; a boat moored against the quay in the [left] foreground, ships at sea and a fortification in the [left] background.”–British Museum online catalogue

  • Printmaker: Bartolozzi, Francesco, 1727-1815, printmaker.
  • Title: British plenty [graphic] / painted by H. Singleton ; engraved by Bartolotti [that is, Bartolozzi].
  • Publication: [London] : [publisher not identified], [approximately 1794]

Catalog Record

794.00.00.74++

Acquired April 2023

The fruits of early industry & oeconemy

description below

“A family in a wealthy interior; an elderly man at centre, seated at a table, a glass in his left hand, holding out his right to receive coins from a younger man standing to left with his right hand on a book and a quill in his mouth; on the table, another glass, writing materials, coins and notes; to right, a woman …, supporting, and holding up a bunch of grapes for, a young child standing on a chair; looking on from behind the chair, a boy and, at right, a black servant holding a bowl of fruit, his left hand on the chair; in front of the table, a young girl lying on the carpet with a spaniel; a shipping wharf seen through an open window to left.”–British Museum online catalogue, description of another print engraved after the same painting

  • Printmaker: Darcis, Louis, -1801, printmaker.
  • Title: The fruits of early industry & oeconemy [sic] [graphic] / G. Morland pinxt. ; Darcis sculpt.
  • Publication: London : [publisher not identified], publishd. March 25, 1800.

Catalog Record

Drawer 800.03.25.07

Acquired April 2023

Industry and oeconomy

description below

“Dock scene, a sign on the wall reads ‘Bell Wharf’: a man in a black coat and hat stands writing, resting the paper on a crate, looking to right at a young man with a neck-tie, who stands beside a man carrying a sack, giving an account, hat in hand, while gesturing to another man who brings a barrel up the steps and talks to a man in a rowing boat, alongside to right, with wife and two children to left.”–British Museum online catalogue, description of another print engraved after the same painting.

  • Printmaker: Darcis, Louis, -1801, printmaker.
  • Title: Industry and oeconomy [graphic] / H. Singleton pinxt. ; Darcis sculpt.
  • Publication: London : [publisher not identified], publishd. March 25, 1800.

Catalog Record

800.03.25.06 Impression 1

Acquired April 2023

The effects of youthful extravagance & idleness

description below

“Poverty-stricken family in bare, attic interior; man seated at left beside table, skinny dog beside him, looking away from woman, standing in centre mending garment, watched by boy lying on floor and resting on stool at right, looking up from his reading; young woman sitting dejectedly with bellows beside fireplace, at right.”–British Museum online catalogue, description of another print engraved after the same painting.

  • Printmaker: Darcis, Louis, -1801, printmaker.
  • Title: The effects of youthful extravagance & idleness [graphic] / G. Morland pinxt. ; Darcis sculpt.
  • Publication: London : [publisher not identified], publishd. March 25, 1800.

Catalog Record

Drawer 800.03.25.08

Acquired April 2023

Knives, scissars and razors to grind

description below

Two women stand before a knife grinder and his cart equipped with a grinding wheel, on the sidewalk before an open door and under a street lamp. The woman closest to the viewer hands him a pair of scissors while the other looks on. In the background on the right, a woman carrying a baby on her back walks away from the scene.

  • Printmaker: Vendramini, Giovanni, 1769-1839, printmaker.
  • Title: Knives, scissars and razors to grind [graphic] = Couteaux, ciseaux, rasoirs a repasser / painted by F. Wheatly R.A. ; engraved by G. Vendramini.
  • Publication: London : Pubd. as the act directs Jan. 1, 1795, by Colnaghi & Co., No. 132 Pall Mall, [1 January 1795]

Catalog Record

795.01.01.03+

Acquired April 2023

Eccentric biography or, Sketches of remarkable characters

title page

  • Title: Eccentric biography or, Sketches of remarkable characters, ancient and modern : including potentates , lawyers, statesmen, … and forming a pleasing delineation of the singularity, whim, folly, caprice, &c, &c of the human mind. Ornamented with portraits, of the most singular characters noticed in the work.
  • Publication: London : Printed by J. Cundee for Vernor and Hood, Poultry; and T. Hurst, No. 32 Paternoster-Row, 1801.

Catalog Record

51 A2 Ec17

Acquired August 2020

The British farmer’s cyclopaedia

  • Author: Potts, Thomas, 1778-1842.
  • Title: The British farmer’s cyclopaedia, or, Complete agricultural dictionary … / Embellished with forty-two engravings.
  • Publication: London : Printed by W. Flint for Scatcherd and Letterman, Ave-maria-Lane, and M. Jones, No. 1 Paternoster-Row, 1807.

Catalog Record

69 807 P871

Acquired June 2020