Request to view

This object can be requested via email from the Prints & Drawings Study Room

The Grace

Print
18/07/1775 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This print by John Raphael Smith is based upon a painting by George Carter. The image refers to a scene in Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy(1768), entitled The Grace. After a disaster when his horse loses two shoes, Parson Yorick is obliged to spend the night in a French peasant's house:

"When supper was over, the old man gave a knock upon the table with the haft of his knife - to bid them prepare for the dance [...] all his life long he had made it a rule, after supper was over, to call out his family to dance and rejoice; believing, he said, that a chearful and contented mind was the best sort of thanks to heaven that an illiterate peasant could pay -
- Or a learned prelate either, said I."

Carter also painted another scene from A Sentimental Journey, using his daughter as the model for Maria. Smith used the painting of Miss Carter as Maria as the basis for another print, published in 1774.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleThe Grace (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Mezzotint
Brief description
'The Grace', mezzotint by John Raphael Smith after George Carter, 1775.
Physical description
Print with a depiction of a group of country folk dancing outside a cottage doorway.
Dimensions
  • Height: 46.4cm (cut)
  • Width: 56.2cm (cut)
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1960: Volume 2, Edgar Seligman Gift. London: HMSO, 1966.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'That a Chearfull and Contented Mind is the best thanks an Illiterate Peasant can Pay. Vide Yoricks Sentimental Journey Vol.II Page 192. Geo. Carter pinxt. J.R. Smith fecit. London, Printed for R. Sayer, & J. Bennett, No. 53 Fleet Street: Published as the Act directs. 18 July 1775.' (Lettered with title and inscription)
Credit line
Given by Edgar Seligman
Literary referenceLaurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey
Summary
This print by John Raphael Smith is based upon a painting by George Carter. The image refers to a scene in Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy(1768), entitled The Grace. After a disaster when his horse loses two shoes, Parson Yorick is obliged to spend the night in a French peasant's house:

"When supper was over, the old man gave a knock upon the table with the haft of his knife - to bid them prepare for the dance [...] all his life long he had made it a rule, after supper was over, to call out his family to dance and rejoice; believing, he said, that a chearful and contented mind was the best sort of thanks to heaven that an illiterate peasant could pay -
- Or a learned prelate either, said I."

Carter also painted another scene from A Sentimental Journey, using his daughter as the model for Maria. Smith used the painting of Miss Carter as Maria as the basis for another print, published in 1774.

Bibliographic references
  • Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1960: Volume 2, Edgar Seligman Gift. London: HMSO, 1966.
  • Fagan, Louis. A descriptive catalogue of the engraved works of William Faithorne. London: B. Quaritch, 1898. xiii, 104 p. 30 cm.
Collection
Accession number
E.4954-1960

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 createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest