The Last Drop
April 5, 1801
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 1/8 × 7 13/16 in. (28.3 × 19.9 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
59.533.1421
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Rowlandson's *The Last Drop* (1801) is a vivid hand-colored etching that captures the perils of excess through satire. Depicting men reveling in drink, with ominous skeletons and arrows symbolizing impending death, the print embodies the artist's sharp wit. Rowlandson, a leading British caricaturist of the late 18th and early 19th, often lampooned social vices like, reflecting Britain's growing temperance concerns amid widespread gin consumption. This intimate sheet (11 1/8 × 7 13/16 in.) showcases Rowlandson's mastery of etching, enhanced by meticulous hand-coloring that heightens its...
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...