Preview
Creation Date
19th–20th centuries (reproduction), September 1, 1821 (original)
Geography
England
Culture
English
Medium
Hand-colored etching and aquatint
Dimensions
With mat: 12 1/16 × 14 13/16 in. (30.6 × 37.6 cm)
Without mat: 5 7/8 × 9 7/16 in. (15 × 23.9 cm)
Credit Line
Long-term Loan from the Estate of Boris Blick, 2015
Accession Number
2015.57
Provenance
According to Professor Sarah Blick, this print was purchased by Boris Blick from Stagecoach Antiques (now closed) in Akron, Ohio.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings
Beneath image, lower left: "Drawn by Rowlandson."
In bottom margin, lower center: "QUÆ GENUS WITH A PORTRAIT PAINTER."
Bottom of page, lower center: "Published Sept.1,1821,by R.Ackermann,101,Strand."
Reverse, lower right corner in pencil: "35- / Pm-96-4-NO"
Creator Biography
Thomas Rowlandson, English, 1757–1827 (artist).
William Combe, English, 1742–1823 (writer).
Rudolph Ackermann, German, 1764-1834 (publisher).
Description
A crowd of cartoonish figures gather in a room with walls lined with grand, gilt-framed paintings. To the right of the composition, a hunch-backed servant opens a door to reveal a painter at work, painting the portrait of an elegant lady in the room, who is turned to face him.
From The History of Johnny Quae Genus, The Little Foundling of the Late Doctor Syntax (1821), written after the success of writer William Combe and illustrator Thomas Rowlandson with a series of three books following Doctor Syntax and written as comic poems satirizing William Gilpin and his promotion of the picturesque.