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A Beef Eater
Isaac Cruikshank, born 1764 - died 1811 - Enlarge image
A Beef Eater
- Object:
Print
- Place of origin:
London, England (published)
- Date:
1792 (etched)
- Artist/Maker:
Isaac Cruikshank, born 1764 - died 1811 (etcher)
- Materials and Techniques:
Etching coloured by hand
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Frank A. Gibson
- Museum number:
E.1155-1990
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case MB2A, shelf SH33, box GG177
Throughout the eighteenth century masculine styles influenced women's fashions especially when it came to outfits for walking and riding. The jacket worn here, tapering in at the waist, with a large turned back collar and big buttons copies male dress.
A beefeater is the name traditionally given to a warder at the Tower of London. The woman faces the viewer straight on like a soldier on parade and holds her parasol like a weapon. The fact that she is plump and is straining the seams of her clothing plays on the other historic sense of beef eater meaning someone who is well fed.
