Advantages of Wearing Muslin Dresses!
published February 15, 1802
Medium
Etching in black ink and watercolor on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 24.1 × 34.7 cm (9 1/2 × 13 11/16 in.); Plate: 25.5 × 35.5 cm (10 1/16 × 14 in.); Sheet: 28.5 × 39.5 cm (11 1/4 × 15 9/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
90133
Art Historical Context
James Gillray's *Advantages of Wearing Muslinresses!* is a delightfully sharp satirical etching from February 15, 1802, capturing the whims and woes of Regency-era fashion. As one of Britain's foremost caricaturists, Gillray masterfully skewered high society through exaggerated prints, blending biting wit with vivid imagery. This hand-colored etching on cream wove paper—measuring about 9½ × 13⅝ inches—likely pokes fun at the era's popular muslin gowns, prized for their airy, neoclassical simplicity but notorious for turning sheer and clingy in the rain. Published during the Napoleonic Wars' s...