Grotesque Borders for Screens, Billiard Rooms, Dressing Rooms, &c &c
Medium
Etching in brown ink
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 1/16 × 19 3/4 in. (35.7 × 50.2 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
1970.541.58
Art Historical Context
In the lively world of late Georgian England, *Grotesque Borders for Screens, Bill Rooms, Dressing Rooms,c &c* (1799–1800) captures the whimsical spirit of decorative design. Created through a collaboration between satirical artist Thomas Rowlandson, George Murgatroyd, and publisher Rudolph Ack in London, this etching in brown ink served as a pattern sheet for ornamental borders. Measuring 14 1/16 × 19 3/4 inches, it offered adaptable motifs for fashionable interiors, from intimate dressing rooms to sociable billiard parlors. Rowlandson's signature style—playful, exaggerated figures infused w...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|George Murgatroyd Woodward|Rudolph Ackermann, London · 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...