This porcelain plate produced by the Meissen factory features an adaptation of a popular print made by the British artist William Hogarth (1697-1764). Unlike many of his fellow artists, Hogarth chose to make images of contemporary life and he used satire to illustrate social problems such as prostitution, alcohol abuse, corruption and exploitation. This image comes from the series A Harlot’s Progress (1732) which tells the story of Moll Hackabout, a Yorkshire country girl. Moll travels to London in search of work but gets drawn into a vicious circle of exploitation, ending in her death from venereal disease.

In this scene (plate II of the series), Moll appears as the mistress of a wealthy Jewish merchant, whose attention she attempts to divert by overturning a table to enable her illicit lover to escape. Their moral corruption contrasts with the luxurious formal setting and the stiff pose of the young black servant who suggests both the colonial source of the merchant’s wealth and the quality of self restraint so lacking in the couple.