18th Century Prints on Display

Last updated: Jan 6, 2024

Artwork depicting domestic interiors and work spaces sometimes includes prints that the residents or workers have hung on the wall as decoration, either simply tacked onto the wall or set in a frame. In some cases, the image shown on the print (or the subject of the ballad) is a way for the artist to add a subtle comment on the main scene; while the method of displaying it (tacked to the wall, framed, etc.) may have been typical of the era, the actual print may not have existed beyond the artist’s imagination.

When possible, the prints are identified or described below; if the print exists in reality, a link has been provided for further study.

Graphic prints could originally have been purchased at shops, such as those depicted in Dorothy Mercier’s trade card (c. 1760), A Macaroni Print Shop (1772), Miss Macaroni and her Gallant at a Print-Shop (1773), Spectators at a Print-Shop in St.Paul's Church Yard (1774), or this drawing by J. Elwood (c. 1790) or this watercolor of William Holland’s print shop by Richard Newton (c. 1794).

• He comes to the possession of his fathers estate, c. 1735
  Prints on the back wall captioned “The Prodigal Son going from his carefull father” and “The Prodigal Son wasting his substance on Harlots”
• The Fellow 'Prentices at their Looms by William Hogarth, 1747
  Thomas Idle has a “Moll Flanders” broadside ballad tacked to a post of his loom; Francis Goodchild has more virtuous literature tacked to the wall behind his loom, including broadside ballads of “The London Prentice” and “Whitington L^d Mayor”
• David Garrick in 'The Farmer's Return' by Johan Joseph Zoffany, c. 1762
  A framed print with two men on horseback (?) on the back wall
• Tavern interior by John S C Schaak, 1762
  A print of a man on horseback above the fireplace on the back wall
• High Life Below Stairs by John Collet, 1763
  To the left (on the wall behind the singers), prints depicting “Eliz. Canning” (reference), “THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA,” and “Moll Flanders”; above the fireplace, “THE ORDER OF PROCESSION AT THE CORONATION”; to the right, near the laundress’s elbow is a print depicting “Cleopatra”
• A Pleaſing method of rouzing the Doctor — or a Tythe Pig no bad ſight, c. 1765
  A map on the wall to the left, titled “A PLAN of the DOCTORS PARISH”
• Dick Swift, 1765
  Pinned to the back wall, a print of Arthur Beardmore teaching his son
• Grown Ladies & taught to Dance, 1768
  On the back wall, a picture of a monkey holding a violin, dancing with a cat
• The Hen Peckt Husband, 1768
  On the back wall, a broadside titled “A NEW Summons to Horn Fair” (reference), a framed picture titled “MARS VENUS & VUL[CAN],” a print of “LUCRETIA,” and a broadside of “The Happy PAIR” (reference)
• Out of Place and Unpension’d, 1769
  On the left, a portrait of a man at his desk (probably John Wilkes); on the right, a broadside titled “The Middleſex Petition” (reference)
• High Life Below Stairs, 1770
  A pair of broadsides pasted on the wall behind the servants
• The Shaver and The Shavee, 1772
  Prints and broadsides along the back wall include “DEATH & LADY [?],” “STATION [?] FOR 177[?],” “LIST OF THE LENT PREACHERS,” and “T STERNHOLD”
• The Jealous Maids, 1772
  A print on the back wall titled “The RIVAL MAIDS” (reference)
• Cobler’s Hall, 1775
  “DUKE of CUMBERLAND” framed on horseback over the fireplace (similar), with other broadsides attached to the back walls
• Bachelors Fare — or Bread and Cheese with Kisses, 1777
  On the back of the door, a sign says “A Light Heart & a thin Pair of Breeches goes thorough the World brave Boys”; a picture on the back wall shows a naval battle, titled “The Free Briton closely engag’d with the Charming Sally”
• The Manchester Hero, or Arts yield to Arms, c. 1778
  A notice on the tavern wall starts with the words, “All aſpiring Young Men who despiſe Slavery”
• The Whore’s Last Shift, 1779
  Just inside the window, a broadside ballad titled ”The Comforts of Single Life, an Old Song”; on the back wall, a picture titled “Ariadne Forſaken”
• My Wife and Your Wife, 1779
  Broadside ballads titled “The Goſſips Delight” (reference) and “Madams Gins Triumph” tacked onto the back wall
• Corporal Cartouch teaching Miss Camp-love her Manual Exercise, 1780
  A picture titled “Camp at Winchester” and a female archer (Diana?) framed on the back wall
• Bow Street Myrmidons Spoiling Bob Booty’s Morning Draught, 1781
  A picture of “Jack Sheppard” (reference) framed on a back wall
• Sir Richard Worse-than-Sly, Exposing his Wifes Bottom; — O fye!, 1782
  A map of the Isle of Wight pinned to the wall behind the bath
• Razor’s Levée, or y^e Heads of a new Wig Ad—n on a broad Bottom, 1783
  The back wall has portraits of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, a broadside titled “By his Majesty’s Servants This Day will be presented A new Way to pay old Debts,” a map titled “A new Map of Great Britain and Ireland, a broadide titled “Rule Britannia Set to a new Tune 27th July”; see also Caricature History of the Georges
• Long Sermons and Long Sieges are apt to Lull the Senses, 1784
  A map titled “Plan of the Battle of Dettingen” is on the back wall of the tavern, with a portrait of George II above the fireplace
• A St Giles’s Beauty, 1784
  A broadside on the back wall with an illustration of a Tyburn crowd with four bodies hanging from the gallows
• The country club by William Dickinson, 1788
  A tilted picture of a man on horseback over the door; a map of the world on the wall to the right
• Seeing, 1791
  The man examines a broadside with an illustration of a monkey farting on a lit candle
• Oh! Dear! What can the matter be! Johnny has been at the fair, 1793
  Just behind the young woman attempting to conceal her pregnancy is a picture titled “The Broken Pitcher” (see Some Observations on the Symbolism of The Broken Pot in art and literature)
• Settling a Political Debate, 1795
  A print of the game board for “Royal Game of the Gooſe&rquo; hangs on the back wall (reference)
• Country Characters: Publican, 1799
  The back wall displays prints of horses and their riders from the Horse Accomplishments series: “An Astronomer,” “A Land Measurer,” “An Arithmetician,” and “A Loiterer”
• Interior of a country inn by George Morland
  Framed pictures on the back wall, with broadsides attached to the door
• T. Rowlandson the Caricaturist, c. 1800
  Pictures tacked to the wall (presumably Rowlandson’s prints)
• Knavish Pat — A Tale, 1804
  A framed print of a game board for Game of the Goose (reference)