The Bum Shop

Art Historical Context

Created in the heart of Georgian London, "The Bum Shop" captures the era’s lively tradition of satirical printmaking. Published on July 11, 1785, by S. W. Fores and etched by R. Rushworth, this etching pokes fun at contemporary fashion excesses. The scene likely depicts a bustling shop where exaggerated padded garments—popular “bum” enhancers—are displayed and tried on by fashionable women, much to the amusement of onlookers and their dogs. Etching was the perfect medium for such social commentary. Its fine lines allowed artists to crowd scenes with witty details while enabling rapid production and wide distribution through print shops like Fores’s. In an age before photography or mass media, these affordable prints served as the era’s sharpest form of public satire, letting viewers laugh at the latest fads while reflecting on vanity and social display. Today the work offers a charming window into 1780s taste and humor. Its presence in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection reminds us how prints once shaped public conversation, turning fleeting fashion trends into lasting cultural commentary.

About the Artist

S. W. Fores|R. Rushworth · 1785–1825

**Samuel William Fores (1761–1838), often credited simply as S. W. Fores, was a leading English publisher and printseller whose Piccadilly shop became a landmark during the Golden Age of Georgian caricature.** Born on 8 March 1761, Fores was the son of a cloth merchant and stationer-bookseller. He was apprenticed to his father in 1775 and completed his training in 1782. The following year he esta...