Songs: "A Blessing unknown to ambition & Pride"
Medium
Soft-ground etching
Dimensions
Image: 7 7/8 × 10 1/16 in. (20 × 25.6 cm) Sheet: 10 7/8 × 15 1/16 in. (27.6 × 38.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Wilbur Macey Stone, 1921
Accession Number
21.94.2(9)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1822 soft-ground etching by Henry Thomas Alken, published by Thomas McLean, the lighthearted spirit of Regency-era British satire. Alken, celebrated for his humorous depictions of social life and sporting scenes, uses the medium’s soft, tonal lines to create an intimate, almost sketch-like quality that invites viewers into the scene. The title, “A Blessing unknown to ambition & Pride,” suggests a moral or witty commentary on the simple pleasures of everyday existence, contrasting them with the vanities of status-seeking. The print’s imagery, featuring human figures engaged in dining and ...
About the Artist
Henry Thomas Alken|Thomas McLean (British|British) · 1785 |1788 –1851 |1875
British, London 1785–1851 London|British, 1788–1875