Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 54, Henrietta Street Room

Frame

1732 - 1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This frame is one of a set of six in the V&A collection that were made to house a set of Hogarth's 'Harlot's Progress', published in 1732. This set of prints was the first example of Hogarth's 'modern moral subjects' produced as paintings and reproduced as prints. Hogarth was an innovative artist not just in his subject matter but also in his marketing processes. He appealed to a broad audience through prints and an important aspect of his 'modern moral subject' prints was the extent of their use as decorative ojects. In Hogarth's lifetime these prints would have been trimmed of thier margins and close framed.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Black painted fruitwood on a pine carcass, carved wooden slips, sanded and oil gilt over a yellow ochre ground.
Brief description
Frame made for a subscriber's set of William Hogarth's 'A Harlot's Progress' (1732); British, made ca. 1732-1750.
Physical description
Black painted wooden frame with moulded gilt with inner moulded gilt mount.
Dimensions
  • Height: 38cm
  • Width: 31cm
This print was originally part of a volume that was broken up into individual plates. Dimensions taken from departmental notes.
Historical context
Made for a set of Hogarth's Harlot's Progress.
Summary
This frame is one of a set of six in the V&A collection that were made to house a set of Hogarth's 'Harlot's Progress', published in 1732. This set of prints was the first example of Hogarth's 'modern moral subjects' produced as paintings and reproduced as prints. Hogarth was an innovative artist not just in his subject matter but also in his marketing processes. He appealed to a broad audience through prints and an important aspect of his 'modern moral subject' prints was the extent of their use as decorative ojects. In Hogarth's lifetime these prints would have been trimmed of thier margins and close framed.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
E.2884-1995

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMarch 31, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest