A little music - or - the delights of harmony

A little music - or - the delights of harmony

Item Information

Title:
A little music - or - the delights of harmony
Title (alt.):
A little music. Or, the delights of harmony
Description:
A young woman plays the piano (right) with painful intentness, and sings, as does the man who holds open her music-book. A middle-aged military officer stands full face playing the flute. A fat elderly 'cit' sleeps in an arm-chair (left). His wig has fallen off and his legs rest on another chair. Behind him a very obese man and an ugly and over-dressed woman with a grotesquely thin neck sing from the same piece of music. He warms his back at a blazing fire. The feathers in her hair are alight in one of the candles on the chimney-piece. A small boy blows a toy trumpet, a dog howls and a cat miaows, standing on an open music-book. Chinese figures on the chimney-piece and the lintel of the door represent comic musicians playing different instruments (BM). / A most decidedly musical party. It is evident that the snoring of he old gentleman chimes in with the harmony of the whole, quite as well as the canine and feline duo from the floor (Wright/Evans).
Artist:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
Name on Item:
Gillray Inv.
Date:
May 20, 1810
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Etchings
Caricatures
Satires (Visual works)
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
James Gillray (1756-1815). Prints and Drawings
Subjects:
Military officers
Musicians
Singing
Parties
Sleeping
Fire
Extent:
1 print : hand-colored etching ; plate mark 22 x 29 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z111k679
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
London : Published by John Miller, Bridge Street & W. Blackwood, Edinburgh
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from item.
Alternative title from Wright/Evans.
BM Satires 11611; Wright/Evans 579
Additional information accompanying item: From the 1824 Gillray collection of copies, etched and published by John Miller and W. Blackwood. Also see Rowlandson, Vol. III, No. 92.
Notes (acquisition):
Gift; Louis Black; December 1953
Notes (date):
Date from Wright/Evans.
Reproduction. Date indicated is Gillray's original publication date.
Notes (citation):
Stephens, Frederic George, George, Mary Dorothy. "Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." British Museum Press, 1870, London.
Wright, Thomas, R. H. Evans. "Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures of James Gillray." Benjamin Blom, 1968, New York.
Identifier:
18_17_000045
Barcode:
36666004443194