| Method | Mezzotint with original hand colouring |
| Artist | after Robert Dighton |
| Published | Printed & Sold by Carington Bowles, No.69 in St. Paul's Church Yard, London. Published as the Act directs. 2. September. 1784. |
| Dimensions | Image 328 x 247 mm, Plate 352 x 250 mm, Sheet 366 x 262 mm |
| Notes |
A satire showing a lawyer on the left, clinking glasses with a government official and the devil to the right. The floor is scattered with books and money bags with inscriptions such as: 'Bribes &c.', 'Received for a Place under Government', 'For bad votes', 'Places and Pensions', 'His Majesty's Speech on the Meeting - £10,000 for the Borough of Bribewel', 'Perquisites in Office'. The government official is holding a sheets of paper titles 'Contrivance to raise New Taxes' and the documents on the table between him and the lawyer read 'Places to be let or sold enquire at the bar', 'Treasury documents', etc. Robert Dighton (1752 - 1814) was an English draughtsman and printmaker. He was the son of the art dealer John Dighton, and father of the artist's Robert junior, Denis and Richard. Dighton was especially well known for his satirical prints, which he initially supplied to Carington Bowles and Haines. Later plates he etched, published and sold himself. Dighton infamously stole prints from the British Museum to stock his shop in Charing Cross. When this was discovered in 1806, Dighton escaped prosecution, but was forced to lie low in Oxford until the scandal died down. Carington Bowles (1724-1793) was one of the leading print publishers, printers and sellers of the eighteenth century. He apprenticed with his father John Bowles and worked with him as John Bowles & Son from 1753 to 1762, after which he took over his uncle's business in St Paul's Churchyard, London. BM Satires 3772 Condition: Excellent condition with fine hand colouring. Minor damages to the surface of the sheet and light blue staining to lower right corner. Water damage to verso of paper. Printed on watermarked eighteenth century paper. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £550.00 |
| Stock ID | 43845 |