Two renowned quacks demonstrate the superiority of each other's experiments and inventions. On the left, Graham, a quack, fashionable doctor and visionary, stands on the glass insulators used in his experiments with electricity and placed on top of a podium in the form of an E.O.(gaming) table, a reference to the illegal gambling he patronized at his residence. He stradles a long tube signed, "Prime conductor / Gentle restorer / Largest in the world." Behind his table stand two gigantic porters employed at his establishment, named here "Gog" and "Magog." The placard around Gog's neck, "The Temple of Health & of Hymen," is an allusion to Graham's 'celestial bed' for cure of sterility. His opponent on the right side of the image, quack, conjurer and showman Katerfelto, crouches next to a cylindrical conductor signed, "Positively Charg'd." The trident inserted in the back end of the conductor touches a grindstone turned by the devil. Electric sparks shoot from its front end and from Katerfelto's right thumb and index finger. Some sparks drip on a toy cannon in front of him firing at Graham. His podium is made of flimsy planks placed atop the container signed, "Reservoir for Dead Insects destroyd by Dr. Katterf[elto]."
Description:
Title from item., Sheet trimmed trimmed to plate mark., and Mounted to 28 x 39 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 17th 1783 by W. Humphrey No 227 Strand
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
Graham, James, 1745-1794. and Katerfelto, Gustavus, fl. 1782-1783.
Subject (Topic):
Electricity, Experiments, Gog and Magog, Quacks, Devil, Medicines, Gambling, and Wigs
