Mock Turtle
Original title: Mock Turtle
kurzbeschreibung
What sets this hand-colored etching apart from comparable prints of its day is the tension Thomas Rowlandson sets up in 1785 between sparing color and exacting linework. Two figures are caught in a kiss within a landscape that is only hinted at, with two birds hovering overhead. The title runs along the bottom in capital letters.
Description
A couple kisses: on the left stands a person in a hat, facing someone with curly white hair dressed in red. Everything else stays in shades of gray. Two birds float above the pair, while a few fine strokes suggest the landscape behind them. Along the lower edge reads the title MOCK TURTLE in capitals.
Context
Rowlandson made the print on January 24, 1785, in the middle of England's Georgian era. He was known for satirical views of social life, often with a comic or caricaturing edge. Caricatures served at the time as a popular vehicle for political and social commentary. The title Mock Turtle may refer to the mock turtle soup of the same name, a cheap substitute, and so perhaps aims an ironic jab at the subject shown.
Impact
Delicate hand-coloring and a satirical title give the sheet a hovering mood somewhere between romance and irony. Since nearly everything stays gray and a single red accent is set, the eye is drawn to the figure on the right, which heightens the closeness of the two. The faintly drawn elements of the setting lend the print a lightness that sits in tension with a possible satirical reading.
Technique
The image was etched and then colored by hand. Etching allows fine lines and hatching, used here for both landscape and figures. Watercolors were probably applied; only the clothing of the right-hand figure is red, while the rest remains monochrome.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)