Female Politicians
1815 (copy after)
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 1/2 × 13 1/4 in. (24.1 × 33.6 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
1970.541.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
This hand-colored etching titled *Female Politicians*, created in 1815 as a copy after an original by the renowned British caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, offers a witty glimpse into early nineteenth-century social commentary. Published by William McCleary, the print employs the popular medium of etching—where artists incise designs into metal plates for mass reproduction—enhanced with vibrant hand-applied colors to heighten its satirical edge. Rowlandson, celebrated for his lively and exaggerated style within the Georgian era’s caricature tradition, frequently lampooned contemporary manners a...
About the Artist
William McCleary|Thomas Rowlandson (British|Irish) · 1757 |1799 –1827 |1820
British, London 1757–1827 London|Irish (active Dublin), 1799–1820