Two Penny Cribbage
Original title: Two Penny Cribbage
kurzbeschreibung
Two men sit facing each other over a card game, cards in hand, their expressions heated. Thomas Rowlandson captured this scene on October 1, 1810, in a hand-colored etching. The landscape-format sheet measures 24.4 × 31.8 cm and combines sharp observation of satirical figures with a humorous slice of everyday life.
Description
The player on the left wears a blue suit and a striped shirt; the one on the right, a red suit and spectacles. Both have curly hair and hold cards. Their exaggerated faces look quarrelsome, underscoring the caricatural style. More cards and a game board lie on the table, with a simple wooden chair visible behind. Above their heads appear the words “One for his Nob” and “Then I'm nobb'd out of Two-pence!”, reproducing the dialogue. The arrangement is symmetrical, the light even and without strong shadows.
Context
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English caricaturist and printmaker known for his satirical depictions of social life. The etching was made in 1810, when card games such as cribbage were widespread in British taverns and parlors. Rowlandson often used aquatint and coloring to make his scenes lively and accessible. This sheet belongs to a series of humorous everyday depictions aimed at a broad public.
Impact
The exaggerated faces and the pointed line of dialogue make the viewer smile immediately. Strong colors—blue and red—draw the eye to the opponents and heighten the emotional tension. Overall, the image conveys a lively, almost theatrical atmosphere.
Technique
For this hand-colored etching, the lines were first etched into copper and then colored with watercolors. The delicate linework in the faces and clothes shows Rowlandson's sure hand, while the tones of blue, red, and earth colors create a warm effect. The paper size of 24.4 × 31.8 cm is typical for prints of this period.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)