The Feathers
Medium
Etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 1/8 × 9 1/8 in. (15.6 × 23.2 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
59.533.247
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Rowlandson's *The Feathers* (1787) captures a lively slice of late Georgian England through the lens of satire. This etching and aquatint a bustling urban scene featuring men, women, horses, and carriages what appears to be a tavern or inn—likely named for its feathered sign, a common motif in British public houses. Rowlandson, a master caricaturist known for his humorous and often bawdy commentary on social vices, skewers the era's upper classes and their indulgences with exaggerated figures and chaotic energy. The medium of etching combined with aquatint was revolutionary for printma...
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...