Taste in High Life

Taste in High Life

William Hogarth (painter of original 1742 painting)

Samuel Phillips (Engraver of current print)

Hogarth: British, 1697-1764. Born in London, England on November 10th. Died in London England on October 26th.

Phillips: British, active 1797-1808

Black and white engraving after a painting by Hogarth for Mary Edwards of Kensington in 1742. Engraved and published in 1808 without the permission of Hogarth and after Edwards' death. It is a satire of contemporary upper-class London fashion imported from France. A man on the right (possibly the Earl of Portmore) holds out a saucer to a woman in the center who holds a tiny cup and is wearing a large dress with wide hoops. A woman on the left caresses the chin of an enslaved servant boy who is dressed extravagantly with exotic feathered headdress and long tails. A monkey in fancy dress stands at the front of the room reading a French menu. All of the pictures on the walls satirize clothing and large hoop skirts in various ways.

From the original picture painted by Hogarth in 1742 in the possession of John Birch Esq.r to whom this plate is humbly dedicated by his obliged servant Sam.L Phillips
Boydell & Co. G.O. Cheapside, Sam Phillips Sculpt.

Published March 1, 1808

19th

64.8 cm h. x 69.2 cm w., framed

print

ink on paper

etching

20120163

Antal, Frederick. Hogarth and his place in European art. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1962.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/421470

Paulson, Ronald. Hogarth's Graphic Works. Revised edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970

Yale Center for British Art Exhibit: "Slavery and Portraiture in 18th- Century Atlantic Britain", https://interactive.britishart.yale.edu/slavery-and-portraiture/297/taste-in-high-life

Hogarth

William