A copy in reverse of William Hogarth’s Plate 4 of A harlot’s progress: A scene in Bridewell prison with Moll Hackabout and the other inmates beating hemp under the supervision of a stern warder holding a cane. Moll is still dressed in her finery, but a one-eyed female attendant fingers the lace lappet hanging from her cap and her serving-woman sits before her in Moll’s elegant shoes; next to her a fellow inmate picks vermin off her clothes. Next to Moll is a gambler, a torn playing card on the floor in front of him; behind her, a man stands with his hands in a pillory on which hangs a sign “Better to Work than Stand thus.” Further down the wall is a whipping post with the words “The Wages of Idleness.” On a shudder against the back wall is an effigy of Sir John Gonson (“Sr. J G”).

• Title: A harlot’s progress. Plate IV [graphic] : In Bridewell beating hemp = Dans la maison de correction a battre le chanvre / invented & painted by Wm. Hogarth.
  
• Publication: [London] : [publisher not identified], [not before 25 March 1768]

Catalog Record 

Hogarth 768.03.25.12+ Box 210

Acquired December 2019