Preview
Creation Date
Possibly 19th century (reproduction), 1793 (original)
Geography
England
Culture
English
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Without mat: 4 3/4 × 8 in. (12 × 20.3 cm)
Credit Line
Long-term Loan from the Estate of Boris Blick, 2015
Accession Number
2015.204
Provenance
According to Professor Sarah Blick, she purchased this print for her father (Boris Blick) from an antique shop on Portabello Road in London in the late 1990s.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings
Above image, upper right: "Vol1.p.58."
Below image, lower right: "T. Rowlandson.delṭ & Fecṭ"
In bottom margin, lower center: "Mutual defiance of Capt. Weazel and Miſs Jenny Ramper"
Creator Biography
Thomas Rowlandson, English, 1757–1827 (artist).
James Sibbald, Scottish, 1747–1803 (publisher).
Tobias George Smollett, 1721–1771 (writer).
Description
A faint background depicts an array of plates and containers in front of which two slightly off-center figures engage in animated conversation. Both of their mouths open and gesticulating, the man on the left is portrayed with an accentuated raising of his left leg, as if just about to stamp on the ground, raising a sword with his right hand. The woman who confronts him, to the right, raises her right arm with her thumb and pointer finger pinched together, eyes turned upwards. Other figures line up behind this man and woman, all but one of whom is depicted with wide eyes and open mouth.
This illustration by Thomas Rowlandson was created for James Sibbald’s 1793 London edition of The Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias George Smollett (1721–1771).