The Flower of the City
April 10, 1809
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 13 in. × 9 5/16 in. (33 × 23.6 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
59.533.1327
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Flower of the City**, a hand-colored etching created by Thomas Rowlandson and published by Thomasegg on April 10, 1809, captures the sharp wit of early 19th-century British. Rowlandson, a master caricaturist associated with the Regency era's vibrant print culture, delighted audiences with his exaggerated figures and biting social commentary. This modestly sized print (13 × 9 5/16 inches) exemplifies the era's popular format, where etchings were hand-colored by skilled artisans to enhance their visual punch and market appeal, making political humor accessible to a broad public. Set again...