A Lesson Westward - or a Morning Visit to Betsy Cole
Print
1782 (published)
1782 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In the eighteenth century humourous mezzotints such as this were know as drolls. The taste for poking fun at women's driving skills evidently goes back much further than the invention of the motor car. The lettering on the print refers to the gig, whiskey and phaeton, which were all types of horse-drawn carriage.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Lesson Westward - or a Morning Visit to Betsy Cole (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Mezzotint coloured by hand with watercolour |
| Brief description | Mezzotint print after Robert Dighton entitled 'A Lesson Westward - or a Morning Visit to Betsy Cole, Hammersmith Turnpike', a comical scene depicting a lady driving a horse and cart. Great Britain, 1782. |
| Physical description | Mezzotint print depicting a lady being taught how to drive a horse and cart while an angry man dressed in a blue suit jumps out of the way of the carriage into a roadside milestone. A family of piglets is also in the foreground, with one unfortunate piglet being run over. Another man laughs behind the carriage and the male teacher too is smiling, with sheafs of corn loaded into the back of the vehicle, and a sign on the side advertising his driving school for ladies. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | TOM LONGTROT'S ACADEMY for YOUNG LADIES. Driving taught to an Inch, Ladies compleatly finish'd in a fortnight, for Gig, Whiskey, or Phaeton: Single Lesson half a Crown, Five for half a Guinea (Lettered) |
| Credit line | Given by the House of Worth |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | In the eighteenth century humourous mezzotints such as this were know as drolls. The taste for poking fun at women's driving skills evidently goes back much further than the invention of the motor car. The lettering on the print refers to the gig, whiskey and phaeton, which were all types of horse-drawn carriage. |
| Bibliographic reference | Dimensions taken from Miller, Elizabeth, Hand Coloured British Prints. London: Published by Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1987. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.21718-1957 |
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| Record created | August 5, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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