"An etching of Hogarth seated at a table, holding in one hand a port-crayon, in the other his print of "John Wilkes E", to which satire this is a rejoinder. Tied to Hogarth's right elbow, as if it were an impediment or guide in the use of his skill, is a bag marked "300£ per ann for distorting features"; he has a pug nose, and an impudent, hard look; his feet are cloven like a satyr's; one of his legs is that of a satyr, and it tramples on the cap and spear of Liberty. His dog 'Trump' squats under the table, on which is a paint-pot containing "Colours to blacken fair carachters [sic]". A palette and sheaf of brushes hang off the collar of the Hogarth's dog; on the palette is the "Line of Beauty". The bag refers to Hogarth's appointment as Serjeant-Painter to the King. Behind Hogarth, an ape appears in the act of drawing or measuring a "Line of Beauty" on a canvas set on an easel. Likewise behind on the left, an ugly, skeletal, old, one-eyed woman in a fontange, her lean bust much exposed, holds a mirror and a fan. The woman may be a reference to Mrs. Hogarth. An owl is drawn on the back of Hogarth's chair
Alternative Title:
Answer to the print of John Wilkes Esqr. by William Hogarth
Description:
Title engraved below image., Date from British Museum catalogue., "Price 6 pence"--Following imprint., and Mounted on sheet: 36.2 x 23.2 cm.
Publisher:
Sold in Leicester Fields
Subject (Name):
Wilkes, John, 1725-1797., Hogarth, Jane Thornhill, 1709?-1789, Hogarth, William, 1697-1764., and Hogarth, William, 1697-1764
