"A masonic feast: in the centre of the room on a platform is an empty armchair decorated with a masonic symbol. Below it and on the right is a table with punch-bowl, glasses, candles, &c, behind which are the English members of the Lodge, some seated, others standing. On the left sit the French members, the most prominent being Cagliostro; all wear masonic aprons. ... "--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Masonic anecdote
Description:
Titles in English and French etched above image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Captions in French and English etched under each title, respectively., Thirty lines of verse in French below image on left, under the heading, "Abregè de l'histoire du Comte Arabe": Nè Dieu sait où, maintenu Dieu sait comme ..., Thirty lines of verse in English below image on right, under the heading, "Abstract of the Arabian Count's memoirs": Born God knows where, supported God knows how ..., Sheet trimmed within plate mark, and imprint statement mostly erased from sheet; imprint from British Museum catalogue., Temporary local subject terms: Trades: hairdresser -- Hairdressers: Mr. Barker, King Street, Bloomsbury -- Opticians: Mr. Mash -- Interior of the Freemasons' Lodge of Antiquity -- Freemasons' symbols -- Furniture -- Upholstered chair -- Lighting: candlesticks -- Glass decanter -- Glass bottle -- Wine glasses -- Punch bowls., and Watermark: Russell & Co. 1797 on the right side of sheet; fleur-de-lis on the left side.
Publisher:
Publish'd November 21st, 1786, for the proprietor by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Cagliostro, Alessandro, conte di, 1743-1795
Subject (Topic):
Freemasonry, Quacks and quackery, Fraternal organizations, Interiors, Dining tables, Chairs, Candles, and Eating & drinking
"The artist introduces us to the laboratory of a so-called alchemist. A roguish Jew and his familiar are busily engaged in the transmutation of metals; the servant, with a pair of long- nozzled bellows, is engaged in kindling the furnace, in which is a crucible; various retorts, alembics, and other paraphernalia of the 'black arts,' are scattered about, as well as a formula for 'changing lead into gold'; although the alchemists at best could only contrive to accomplish the reverse transmutation. Suggestive prints are hung on the walls of this chamber of mystery, such as the portrait of the notorious 'Count Cagliostro, discoverer of the Philosopher's Stone,' and the figure of the spurious 'Bottle Conjurer.' A military officer, in the next apartment, is turning his opportunities to more practical advantage by embracing, with a certain display of ardour, a pretty maiden who is nothing loth, the daughter, it appears, of the philosophically minded investigator."--Grego, J. Rowlandson the caricaturist
Alternative Title:
Searching for the philosophers stone
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed in image, lower left., Traces of burnished lettering in lower right corner of design., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., Temporary local subject terms: Hoaxes: allusion to bottle conjurer -- Male costume -- Furniture: chest -- Philosopher's stone., Temporary local Medical Library subject terms: Sex behavior., 1 print : aquatint with etching, hand-colored ; sheet 25.8 x 32.1 cm., and Imperfect; sheet trimmed within plate mark with loss of imprint from lower left. The title is also separated from the rest of the sheet, having been trimmed away and then mounted beneath the design.
Publisher:
Pub. March 12, 1800, at R. Ackermans Repository of the Arts, N. 101 Strand
"The artist introduces us to the laboratory of a so-called alchemist. A roguish Jew and his familiar are busily engaged in the transmutation of metals; the servant, with a pair of long- nozzled bellows, is engaged in kindling the furnace, in which is a crucible; various retorts, alembics, and other paraphernalia of the 'black arts,' are scattered about, as well as a formula for 'changing lead into gold'; although the alchemists at best could only contrive to accomplish the reverse transmutation. Suggestive prints are hung on the walls of this chamber of mystery, such as the portrait of the notorious 'Count Cagliostro, discoverer of the Philosopher's Stone,' and the figure of the spurious 'Bottle Conjurer.' A military officer, in the next apartment, is turning his opportunities to more practical advantage by embracing, with a certain display of ardour, a pretty maiden who is nothing loth, the daughter, it appears, of the philosophically minded investigator."--Grego, J. Rowlandson the caricaturist
Alternative Title:
Searching for the philosophers stone
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed in image, lower left., Traces of burnished lettering in lower right corner of design., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., Temporary local subject terms: Hoaxes: allusion to bottle conjurer -- Male costume -- Furniture: chest -- Philosopher's stone., Temporary local Medical Library subject terms: Sex behavior., and Matted to 46 x 52 cm.
Publisher:
Pub. March 12, 1800, at R. Ackermans Repository of the Arts, N. 101 Strand
