An Old Maid on a Journey

BANKS Sarah Sophia; NORTH Brownlow artist; GILLRAY James etcher

Verlag: Erscheinungsdatum: 1804

Hand-coloured etching measuring 260 by 390mm. A crisp copy, previously mounted in an album. London, Hannah Humphrey, November 20th, An unkind satire apparently of Miss Sarah Sophia Banks (1744-1818), sister of the naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks. She distinguished herself as a collector of printed ephemera, coins, medals and tokens from around the world and was a presence in London's high society. The image has her dressed in one of her three riding habits, which she called ?hitem, titem, and scrub'? (Grego). We know that she started collecting as a teenager, and that she and Joseph corresponded throughout his time on Cook's first voyage (1768-71). On his return, she helped him organise the material he brought back from the voyage and this influenced her own collecting. She collected items from across Europe, but also Africa, Asia and America. Her collection amounted to more than 30,000 objects, which she donated to the British Museum on her death. ODNB adds: ?Though British élite culture offered few opportunities for women, the large number of visitors to her brother's residence in Soho Square, where she lived from shortly after his marriage in 1779 until her death, made it possible for Sarah to achieve some recognition in the scientific and scholarly circles in which her brother moved.? BM Satires describe the print thus: ?A procession from the open door of an inn (r.) towards the room destined for the traveller, a fat, ugly, elderly woman with a twisted, appraising profile, holding up a fan in her right. hand, from the little finger of which dangles a parasol; tucked under her left. arm is a lap-dog. She wears a riding habit; over her straw hat is a hood or scarf. After her shambles a lean elderly man, much caricatured, carrying an embroidery frame, bag, and box. Behind him is a man holding up a caged bird, to which he whistles grotesquely, while a cat ensconced in an alcove grabs at the cage. An immensely fat woman, holding a 'Bill of Fare', stands against the wall, watching the visitor. The fat host (l.), napkin in hand, ushers her towards the room, with pointing thumb; it is called 'the Ram', the adjacent door is placarded 'the Union'. Bell-wire meanders over the wall connected with bells belonging to the two rooms; both are jangling. Through the door is seen the sign of the inn: a cock on a pair of breeches.? BM Satires, 10300; Grego, J., The Works of James Gillray . (London, 1873), p.313; Wright and Evans, No. 530. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 252324

Bibliografische Details

Titel: An Old Maid on a Journey
Erscheinungsdatum: 1804