The Chairmen's Terror
July 18, 1792
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 3/4 × 11 3/4 in. (24.7 × 29.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.465
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Rowlandson's *The Chairmen's Terror* (1792) is a lively hand-colored etching that captures the chaotic energy of late 18th-century London street life. Created as a satirical print, it belongs to Rowlandson's vast oeuvre of caricatures, which poked fun at social customs, urban mishaps, and human folly during the Georgian era. Published on July 18, 1792, amid Britain's growing fascination with French Revolutionary fervor, the work likely satirizes the perils of sedan chairs—enclosed litters carried by "chairmen"—a common mode of transport for the upper classes navigating crowded city stre...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson · 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...