Caricature – Gillray

Gillray, John (1756 – 1815) :  Nature display’d, shewing the effect of the change of the seasons on the ladies garden.

Henry Bohn London 1847

hand coloured copper engraving; image size 25,5 x 25,5 cm. plate mark cracked; cropped to plate mark; one tear into plate mark lower left corner of image; o/w vg cond.

The design is of four headless female three-quarter length figures, in an octagon within a square, aligned around a centre of smoke clouds with the words ‘Thunder, Lightning, Wind, Rain’. Each head is replaced by a season specific symbol and quote: Spring – primroses – ‘Two bunches a Penny Primroses’. Summer – roses – ‘Gather your Rose Buds while you may’. Autumn – grapes – ‘Nursery’. Winter – a chimney stack – ‘Hot House’. There is an imprint reading: ‘Pubd. May 22 d, 1797. by H. Humphrey 87, St.James’s Street.’.

Originally designed in 1747 by Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey and engraved by T.B. (?), this is a later publication by  Henry Bohn for an additional album of works which were considered too outrageous to include in a regular volume as the sexual metaphor is based on the slang use of ‘garden’! This is plate number 27; unfortunately, the plate has been cropped and the pagination has been lost.

A very unusual print that will most certainly will be a talking point!

[ref: 3317] £95