Wet Quakers
Medium
Hand-colored etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 5/8 × 8 7/16 in. (14.3 × 21.4 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
59.533.1620(21)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1813 by the celebrated British caricaturist Rowlandson and published by Rudolph Ackermann in London with assistance from James Green, "Wet Quakers" is a lively hand-colored etching and aquatint that captures the playful spirit of early nineteenth-century satirical printmaking. Rowlandson was renowned for his witty observations of British social life, and this small sheet—measuring just over five by eight inches—demonstrates the popular technique of etching combined with aquatint, which allowed artists to achieve tonal effects and then add vibrant watercolor by hand for wide distribu...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|Rudolph Ackermann, London|James Green · 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...