[Before] [graphic] / invented, engrav'd & published Decbr [the] 15th 1736 by Wm. Hogarth pursuant to an act of Parliament.

Edition:

[State 2].

Published/Created:

[London]
[Wm. Hogarth]
[15 December 1736]

Physical Description:

1 print : etching and engraving on laid paper ; plate mark 426 x 328 mm, on sheet 611 x 471 mm

Related Links:

Paulson, R. Hogarth's graphic works (3rd ed.), no. 141

Notes:

Title and state from Paulson.
"Price two shillings & 6 pence."--Below design, on the right corner.
Companion print to Hogarth's After, published on the same date.
The man is said to have been modeled on Sir John Willes. See Paulson.
Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires.
Sotheby's, F.E. Sotheby Sale, lot 215 (Hogarth's works) to Maggs for W.S. Lewis; 21 Nov. 1955; Acquisition no.: 955-11-21-26. Purchased as a bound collection of 97 prints with Sotheby bookplate; disbound January 1984.
Formerly owned by Frederick Edward Sotheby of Ecton, Northants, 1837-1909.

Abstract:

In her bedroom, a young woman seems to resist the advances of an eager-looking young man sitting on her canopied bed. He pulls her towards him as she pulls away. On the wall to the left is a picture which shows Cupid lighting a firework; it is titled "Before." As she pulls away she upsets the dresser with a mirror; her powders and cosmetics have tumbled to the floor. In the drawer can be seen letters, a novel, and "The Practice of Piety", but on top is a copy of Rochester's Poems. The lady's dog jumps toward the couple. Her willingness to be seduced is suggested by the fact that she is not wearing her corset which can be seen on a chair to the right; her bonnet hangs on the curtains around her bed.

Associated Names:

Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 [Printmaker]
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 [Artist]

Topics:

Boudoirs
Canopy beds
Chamber pots
Couples
Cupids
Dogs
Fireworks
Seduction
Sex
Sotheby, Frederick Edward, 1837-1909
Willes, John, Sir, 1685-1761
Women

Language:

English

Genre:

Engravings -- England -- London -- 1736
Etchings -- England -- London -- 1736
Satires (Visual works) -- England -- 1736

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Prints & Photographs

Rights:

These images are provided for study purposes only. For publication or other use of images from the Library's collection, please contact the Lewis Walpole Library at walpole@yale.edu. Further details on the Library's photoduplication policy are available at http://www.library.yale.edu/walpole/html/research/rights_reproductions.html

Call Number:

Sotheby 26++ Box 305

Orbis Record:

9885316

Yale Collection:

Lewis Walpole Library

Digital Collection:

Lewis Walpole Library

Local Record Number:

lwlpr22250

Volume/Enumeration:

Digital version

OID:

16030567

PID:

digcoll:2808296