Tight Lacing or Hold Fast Behind

About this artwork

This witty satirical print, published by Matthew Darly on March 1, 1777, exemplifies the Georgian era's tradition of social commentary through caricature. The hand-colored etching and engraving mercilessly lampoons the fashionable excesses of late eighteenth-century women's dress, particularly the practice of tight-lacing corsets to achieve the desired silhouette and the towering, elaborately dressed hairstyles that reached absurd heights during this period. Matthias Darly, active in London from...

About the Artist

Matthew Darly · 1720–1780

**Matthew Darly (also known as Matthias Darly, c. 1720–1780)** was a versatile British printseller, engraver, caricaturist, and furniture designer active in London throughout the mid-to-late eighteenth century. His early training began with an apprenticeship in 1735 to clockmaker Umfraville Sampson. He later established himself as a prominent figure in the print trade, operating shops known as “T...