A French Ordinary
July 20, 1802
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 12 1/4 × 10 1/8 in. (31.1 × 25.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, by Exchange, 1970
Accession Number
1970.541.44
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively chaos of *A French Ordinary* (1802), a hand-colored etching by British satirists Thomas Rowlandson Samuel Howitt. Rowlandson, renowned for his caricatures skewering social vices, teams up with Howitt, a master of humorous sporting scenes, to capture a boisterous French tavern scene. Dated July 20, 1802—amid the tense Napoleonic era—this print reflects British humor's fondness for poking fun at French customs, portraying an "ordinary" (a modest public dining house) teeming with exaggerated revelry. The image bursts with vivid details: rowdy men carousing amid piles of food...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|Samuel Howitt · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...