A couple of prints sixty years apart, showing a late night drinking scene. In the first, by William Hogarth, we see the scene at four… Read More »Late-night drinking sessions – contrast and compare: Hogarth v Newton
I came across this print on the Lewis Walpole Library site – oddly enough while looking up prints showing Captain William Bligh. Apparently the dandy… Read More »Cruikshank’s view of the Bon Ton, c. 1817
A perusal of the online version of the Daily Mail suggests a contemporary fascination with “wardrobe malfunctions” and whether or not fashionistas on the red… Read More »A look at what lies beneath… fashion 1796 – 1818
Googling the word ‘refinement’ brought up a couple of interesting caricatures: I rather like this fashion print (courtesy of the British Museum) showing what the… Read More »Two versions of refinement – London Refinement, 1787 and the Refinement of Language, 1802.
There is no delicate way of putting it: my ancestor Richard Hall had problems with wind. He diarised ways of avoiding it (basically by not… Read More »Wind, or Flatulence, otherwise Oppression of the Stomach.
I confess that I had never heard of a card game called Pope Joan until I came across a picture of a papier mache bowl… Read More »Who or what was Pope Joan?
If ever a man was a product of his century, it was Dr John Wall – physician, artist, entrepreneur, man of vision, and arbiter of… Read More »John Wall – physician, artist and famous businessman, died 27th June 1776.
In researching a number of Eighteenth Century scientists I keep coming across mention of the Copley Medal – recipients such as Benjamin Franklin (electricity) John… Read More »The man behind the medal: Sir Godfrey Copley.
OK, so you want more on muffs. So as not to appear sexist I have to point out that Samuel Pepys had taken to wearing… Read More »More on muffs? You asked for it!
A quick follow-up to yesterday’s post on 18th Century muffs. First, a delightful image of a young woman called Madame Molée-Reymond by Vigee Le Brun … Read More »Enough of Muffs? Never!