Study for a plate from The Triumphs of Temper, in the 1796 Royal Engagements Pocket Book
c. 1795
Medium
Ink wash on paper
Dimensions
2.5 × 5 cm (1 × 2 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
131231
Art Historical Context
This delicate ink wash study by Thomas Stothard, leading British illustrator of the late 18th century, as a preparatory drawing for a plate in the 1796 *Royal Engravings Pocket Book*. Created around 1795, it draws from William Hayley's popular didactic poem *The Triumphs Temper* (1781), which celebrated virtuous womanhood and domestic harmony amid the Enlightenment's emphasis on moral. Pocket books like this were fashionable accessories for the genteel classes, blending practical calendars with elegant engravings, making Stothard's miniature designs (just 2.5 × 5 cm) perfect for intimate viewi...
About the Artist
Thomas Stothard · 1755–1834
Thomas Stothard RA (1755–1834) was born on 17 August 1755 at the Black Horse Inn in London's Long Acre, the son of a prosperous publican originally from Stutton near Tadcaster. A delicate child, he was sent at age five to relatives in Yorkshire, attending schools in Acomb, Tadcaster, and later Ilford, Essex, where he honed his drawing skills by copying prints. Following his father's death in 1770,...