Marriage à la Mode, Plate II
- Object:
- Place of origin:
London, England (published)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Baron, Bernard, born 1696 - died 1762 (engraver)
Hogarth, born 1697 - died 1764 (publisher)
- Materials and Techniques:
Etching and engraving on paper
- Credit Line:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case EE, shelf 24, box III
- Download image
This is the second of a series of six prints portraying the disastrous consequences of a joyless arranged marriage between a wealthy middle-class merchant's daughter and an impoverished Earl's son. The couple have every material comfort in a luxurious London house, furnished in the latest style, but they take no pleasure in each other's company.
The husband has returned from an evening of womanising and fighting, while the wife has been at home entertaining. The man on the right is their disapproving steward, in despair at the couple's lifestyle and their financial state - many expenses and very little income.
Physical description
In this scene the Earl's son has returned home after a night of debauchery - the woman's cap in his right pocket, at which a dog tugs, indicates this. Seated at a table with his wife, he stares into space. On the right a servant leaves, his gaze turned upward and his hand raised. In the right background, through an arch, a reveller wakes.
Place of Origin
London, England (published)
Date
01/04/1745 (published)
Artist/maker
Baron, Bernard, born 1696 - died 1762 (engraver)
Hogarth, born 1697 - died 1764 (publisher)
Materials and Techniques
Etching and engraving on paper
Marks and inscriptions
'Invented Painted & Published by Wm. Hogarth Marriage A-la-Mode, Plate II Engraved by B. Baron According to Act of Parliament April 1st 1745.'
Dimensions
Height: 38.1 cm cut, Width: 46.3 cm cut
Descriptive line
'Marriage à la Mode, Plate II'. The second of a series of six satirical prints. Etching Engraving and etching by Bernard Baron, after William Hogarth, 1745.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Lambert, Susan. Prints : Art and Techniques. London : V&A Publications, 2001. p 11 : ill.
The full text of the entry is as follows:
'7. Bernard Baron (1696-1762/6) after Hogarth, Marriage à la Mode, plate 2, 1745.
Etching and engraving. Cut to 38.1 x 46.3.
This set was aimed at an aristocratic audience. Thus instead of working the plates with his own functional lines, Hogarth had them, according to an advertisement, 'engrav'd by the best Masters in Paris', taking particular care 'that there may not be the objection to the decency or elegancy of the whole work'.'
Materials
Paper
Techniques
Engraving; Etching
Subjects depicted
Man; Woman; Dog (animal); Marriage; Servant
Categories
Prints; Marriage
Collection code
PDP
