Set of Six Period William Hogarth engravings "Marriage Å La Mode"

No. R14811

Complete matching set of six William Hogarth (1697-1764) engravings Plates I-VI, from Marriage Å La Mode.

Engraved by T. Cook and published by G.G. & J. Robinson, London, 18th century, engraving on wove paper, each approximately 15-1/4 x 18-1/2 in. (plate), 16-3/4 x 22-1/4 in. (page).

 

1) In the first of the series, The Marriage Settlement, he shows an arranged marriage between the son of bankrupt Earl Squanderfield and the daughter of a wealthy but miserly city merchant. Construction on the Earl's new mansion, visible through the window, have stopped and a usurer negotiates payment for further construction at the center table. The Earl proudly points to a picture of his family tree. The son views himself in the mirror, showing where his interests in the matter lie. The distraught merchant's daughter is consoled by the lawyer Silvertongue while polishing her wedding ring. Even the faces on the walls appear to have misgivings. Two dogs chained to each other in the corner mirror the situation of the young couple.

 

2) In the second, The Tête à Tête, there are signs that the marriage has already begun to break down. The husband and wife appear uninterested in one another, amidst evidence of their separate overindulgences the night before. A small dog pulls a lady's cap from the husband's coat pocket, indicating his adulterous ventures. A broken sword at his feet shows that he has been in a fight. The open posture of the wife also indicates unfaithfulness. As Hogarth once noted: "A lock of hair falling thus cross the temples ... has an effect too alluring to be strictly decent, as is very well known to the loose and lowest class of women."[1] The disarray of the house and the servant holding a stack of unpaid bills shows that the affairs of the household are a mess.

 

3) The third in the series, The Inspection, shows the Viscount visiting a quack with a young prostitute. The viscount, unhappy with the mercury pills meant to cure his syphilis, demands a refund while the young prostitute next to him dabs an open sore on her mouth, an early sign of syphilis.

 

4) In the fourth, The Toilette, the old Earl has died and the son is now the new Earl and his wife, the Countess. As was the very height of fashion at the time, the Countess is holding a "Toilette", or reception, in her bedroom. The lawyer Silvertongue from the first painting is reclining next to the Countess, suggesting the existence of an affair. This point is furthered by the child in front of the pair, pointing to the horns on the statue of Actaeon, a symbol of cuckoldry. Paintings in the background include the biblical story of Lot and his daughters, Jupiter and Io, and the rape of Ganymede.

 

5) In the fifth painting, The Bagnio, the new Earl has caught his wife in a bagnio with her lover, the lawyer, and is fatally wounded. As she begs forgiveness from the stricken man, the murderer in his nightshirt makes a hasty exit through the window. A picture of a woman with a squirrel on her hand hanging behind the countess contains lewd undertones.[3] Masks on the floor indicate that the couple have been at a masquerade.

 

6) Finally, in the sixth painting, The Lady's Death, the Countess poisons herself in her grief and poverty-stricken widowhood, after her lover is hanged at Tyburn for murdering her husband. An old woman carrying her baby allows the child to give her a kiss, but the mark on her cheek and the caliper on her leg suggest that disease has been passed onto the next generation. The countess's father, whose miserly lifestyle is evident in the bare house, removes the wedding ring from her finger.

 

Property from the Estate of the Late Dr. Edwin R. Wallace, IV, Columbia, South Carolina

• OriginEnglish
• CircaMid 18th c.
• Height40 in
• Width25 1/2 in
• Price$2,250.00