Billy Lackbeard and Charley Blackbeard playing at Football
Original title: Billy Lackbeard and Charley Blackbeard playing at Football
kurzbeschreibung
Two men dressed as footballers, caricatured by Thomas Rowlandson in 1784, fill this hand-coloured sheet. The etching belongs among the satirical prints of the British draughtsman and was coloured by hand.
Description
A purple jacket, white waistcoat and green breeches mark the figure on the left, while on the right a blue-green jacket with yellow waistcoat and brown trousers appears. Long curly hair falls into the faces of both figures, who stand on sandy ground. Behind them rises a large overturned building, with clouds above. Scattered playing cards lie on the ground, and in the left foreground stands a table with a sheet of paper on it.
Context
Political satire was hugely popular in Britain around 1784, and Rowlandson tapped into that taste with his caricature. The names of the two figures hide allusions to real people whose identity can no longer be established with certainty today. The sheet belonged to a series of satirical prints that took aim at social and political themes.
Impact
Exaggerated figures and an absurd setting give the sheet a humorous touch. The hand-colouring in pastel tones takes some of the edge off the satire and lends it a playful quality. Football, playing cards and the overturned building meet in an unusual combination that both unsettles and entertains.
Technique
Rowlandson worked with etching and had the print coloured by hand afterwards. This process was widespread in eighteenth-century England and made it possible to produce prints cheaply. Watercolour paints in pastel tones joined the clear lines of the etching and supplemented them.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)