Humming-birds–or–a Dandy Trio

July 15, 1819

Not on view

George Cruikshank etched this social satire after a design by the amateur artist John Sheringham. It shows three fashionable dandies in a well-furnished interior, with the man at left seated in a small lyre-backed chair, one leg propped up as he sings. He leans towards a second musician who reclines on a Regency style sofa and plays an ornate lute-like instrument while a third stands behind the sofa, looks at himself in the glass over an ornate fireplace and plays a flageolet. The singer's open music-book reads "Love has eyes," while books on the floor are titled "The Lovesick Swain Set to Music" and "Our Warbling Notes and Ivory Lutes Shall Ravish Every Ear." Portraits on the wall include a man and a woman in Van Dyck costume and to images that offer mildly critical commentary with that at left labeled "Vacuna," showing a goddess of rural leisure lying under a tree and the other representing "Narcissus" admiring his own reflection. On one end of the sofa, a poodle suckles her puppies.

Artwork Details

Title: Humming-birds–or–a Dandy Trio
Etcher: George Cruikshank (British, London 1792–1878 London)
Artist: After John Sheringham (British, active 1819–25)
Publisher: George Humphrey (British, 1773?–1831?)
Date: July 15, 1819
Medium: Hand-colored etching
Dimensions: Plate: 9 5/8 × 13 7/8 in. (24.4 × 35.2 cm)
Sheet: 10 13/16 × 14 11/16 in. (27.5 × 37.3 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Jill Spalding, 2022
Object Number: 2022.309.35
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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