A Taste in High Life
Etching
1746 (made)
1746 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This print by William Hogarth is an etching. The action of acid was used to make a pattern of grooves on a copper printing plate. This image on the printing plate was the reverse of the final image. The grooves were then filled with ink and the image was transferred onto a blank sheet of paper.
Subject Depicted
William Hogarth (1697-1754) is satirising the clothes and behaviour of fashionable society in the early 1740s. On the left is a woman with her servant, a young boy she has dressed up in a feathered turban. The woman on the right is wearing a dress with a ludicrously full skirt. Her companion wears a long pigtail and is carrying a huge white fur muff. This couple are in a raptures over a teacup held by the woman, and its matching saucer, held by the man. A passion for collecting porcelain was widely seen as a foible of the wealthy. Even the pictures on the wall make fun of fashionable body shapes and the means to achieve them: vast skirts supported on hoops, corsets and high-heeled shoes. In the foreground is a dressed-up monkey reading from a dinner menu offering 'cox combs, ducks tongues, rabbits ears and fricasey of snails'.
Design and Designing
Mary Edwards (1704-1743) commissioned William Hogarth to paint the picture this print is based on. She wanted to get her own back on people who had ridiculed her for wearing old-fashioned clothes.
Trading
Hogarth originally refused permission to have his painting made into a print, but in 1746 an unknown etcher ignored his wishes. A newspaper advert of 24 May announced 'On Monday next will be published an entertaining new Print called Taste in High Life from an incomparable Picture by Mr Hogarth proving beyond contradiction, that the present assemblies are mere exotics, and the supporters of such a parcel of Insects'. This print cost sixpence in 1746.
This print by William Hogarth is an etching. The action of acid was used to make a pattern of grooves on a copper printing plate. This image on the printing plate was the reverse of the final image. The grooves were then filled with ink and the image was transferred onto a blank sheet of paper.
Subject Depicted
William Hogarth (1697-1754) is satirising the clothes and behaviour of fashionable society in the early 1740s. On the left is a woman with her servant, a young boy she has dressed up in a feathered turban. The woman on the right is wearing a dress with a ludicrously full skirt. Her companion wears a long pigtail and is carrying a huge white fur muff. This couple are in a raptures over a teacup held by the woman, and its matching saucer, held by the man. A passion for collecting porcelain was widely seen as a foible of the wealthy. Even the pictures on the wall make fun of fashionable body shapes and the means to achieve them: vast skirts supported on hoops, corsets and high-heeled shoes. In the foreground is a dressed-up monkey reading from a dinner menu offering 'cox combs, ducks tongues, rabbits ears and fricasey of snails'.
Design and Designing
Mary Edwards (1704-1743) commissioned William Hogarth to paint the picture this print is based on. She wanted to get her own back on people who had ridiculed her for wearing old-fashioned clothes.
Trading
Hogarth originally refused permission to have his painting made into a print, but in 1746 an unknown etcher ignored his wishes. A newspaper advert of 24 May announced 'On Monday next will be published an entertaining new Print called Taste in High Life from an incomparable Picture by Mr Hogarth proving beyond contradiction, that the present assemblies are mere exotics, and the supporters of such a parcel of Insects'. This print cost sixpence in 1746.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Taste in High Life (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Etching |
| Brief description | A Taste in High Life |
| Physical description | Etching |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
William Hogarth here ridicules the extremes of French fashion for 1742. He shows the central couple as extravagantly and inconveniently dressed, with highly affected manners. The man, Lord Portmore, is wearing his Parisian finery, while the monkey reads a menu listing French dishes. British artists repeatedly satirised the French for their supposed artifice and extravagant fashions.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | The Forster Bequest |
| Object history | Designed by William Hogarth (born in London, 1697, died there in 1764) and etched in London |
| Summary | Object Type This print by William Hogarth is an etching. The action of acid was used to make a pattern of grooves on a copper printing plate. This image on the printing plate was the reverse of the final image. The grooves were then filled with ink and the image was transferred onto a blank sheet of paper. Subject Depicted William Hogarth (1697-1754) is satirising the clothes and behaviour of fashionable society in the early 1740s. On the left is a woman with her servant, a young boy she has dressed up in a feathered turban. The woman on the right is wearing a dress with a ludicrously full skirt. Her companion wears a long pigtail and is carrying a huge white fur muff. This couple are in a raptures over a teacup held by the woman, and its matching saucer, held by the man. A passion for collecting porcelain was widely seen as a foible of the wealthy. Even the pictures on the wall make fun of fashionable body shapes and the means to achieve them: vast skirts supported on hoops, corsets and high-heeled shoes. In the foreground is a dressed-up monkey reading from a dinner menu offering 'cox combs, ducks tongues, rabbits ears and fricasey of snails'. Design and Designing Mary Edwards (1704-1743) commissioned William Hogarth to paint the picture this print is based on. She wanted to get her own back on people who had ridiculed her for wearing old-fashioned clothes. Trading Hogarth originally refused permission to have his painting made into a print, but in 1746 an unknown etcher ignored his wishes. A newspaper advert of 24 May announced 'On Monday next will be published an entertaining new Print called Taste in High Life from an incomparable Picture by Mr Hogarth proving beyond contradiction, that the present assemblies are mere exotics, and the supporters of such a parcel of Insects'. This print cost sixpence in 1746. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | F.118:129 |
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
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | April 4, 2003 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
