Sketch for "Mrs. Pottles Can't Abide a Crowd"
Medium
graphite
Dimensions
16.4 × 15.4 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1924.1004
Tags
male
About this artwork
Created for a cartoon in Punch magazine, this satirical sketch shows an older woman climbing to her house’s roof to see fireworks rather than face the street crowds. Illustrated magazines like Punch played an important role in shaping Victorian visual culture. They also offered artists a way to reach wider audiences and a source of steady income. John Leech joined Punch soon after its founding in 1841. His weekly sketches helped shape the magazine’s light humor, which was aimed at the middle cla...