An Exquisite
ca. 1817
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
11 5/8 x 8 3/8 in. (29.5 x 21.3 cm) trimmed to plate line on left
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
1970.541.121
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Regency era of early 19th-century Britain, George Cruikank, a master caricaturist known for his sharp social satire, collaborated with publisher Thomas Tegg create *An Exquisite* around 1817. This hand-colored etching pokes fun at the "exquisites"—dandies obsessed with fashion and self-admiration—capturing the era's extravagant male styles amid post-Napoleonic social shifts. Trimmed to its plate line (11 5/8 x 8 3/8 in.), the print exemplifies the booming caricature market, where affordable, colorful satires critiqued upper-class vanities. The hand-coloring technique, applied by skille...
About the Artist
George Cruikshank|Thomas Tegg · 1792–1878
George Cruikshank (1792–1878) was born in London on 27 September 1792, the son of Scottish caricaturist Isaac Cruikshank and Mary MacNaughton. His older brother, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, was also a caricaturist and illustrator, while his sister Eliza worked as a designer. From a young age, Cruikshank assisted his father in the studio, contributing titles, backgrounds, and lettering to cartoons by ...