The Overthrow of Dr. Slop (Tristram Shandy)
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 9 5/8 × 13 3/8 in. (24.4 × 34 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
59.533.1768
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of Laurence Sterne *The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman* with *The Overthrow of Dr Slop*, a hand etching by caricaturist Henry William Bunbury, created around 1800–1820. This satirical print captures a chaotic tumble from the novel's famous birthing scene, where the bumbling obstetrician Dr.op meets his comedic downfall—likely amid horses, dogs, and flustered men, as hinted by the tags. Bunbury, a master of Georgian caricature, brings Sterne's digressive, irreverent narrative to vivid life, poking fun at medical pretensions and human folly. The med...