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Walking Sticks and Round-A-Bouts for the Year 1801

Publisher Rudolph Ackermann, London British
May 8, 1801
Not on view
Contrasting physical types are used here to satirize British summer fashions of 1801. Both women show off revealing muslin dresses with high waists and short sleeves, a classically inspired style introduced from France that revealed every defeat of the figure. Headdresses consist of simple veiled caps, and parasols are carried for shade. The male outfits reflect precepts promoted by Beau Brummel. With the goal a kind of relaxed athleticism, snugly fitting trousers are paired with high Hessian boots. A carefully tied white neck stock is combined with a fitted tailcoat and short waistcoat and the look completed with top hats, unpowdered hair, riding crops and monocles. Fashions for men and women alike reflect growing appreciation for "the natural" but this design demonstrates the consequences for persons with less than ideal physiques.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Walking Sticks and Round-A-Bouts for the Year 1801
  • Artist: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Artist: After George Murgatroyd Woodward (British, 1765–1809 London)
  • Publisher: Rudolph Ackermann, London (British, active 1794–1832)
  • Date: May 8, 1801
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 11 5/16 × 13 7/8 in. (28.7 × 35.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.533.782
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Landscape with Figures on Horseback, Another Resting Under a Gnarled Tree, and a Cottage at Right Nestled in Trees, Thomas Rowlandson British, Soft-ground etching and aquatint
Landscape with Figures on Horseback, Another Resting Under a Gnarled Tree, and a Cottage at Right Nestled in Trees
Etcher Thomas Rowlandson
After Thomas Gainsborough
1784–88
On the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey, William Callow British, Watercolor
On the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey
William Callow
September 30, 1858
Nocturne: Palaces, James McNeill Whistler American, Etching and drypoint; printed in dark brown ink on drum mounted medium weight ivory laid paper.
Nocturne: Palaces
James McNeill Whistler
1879–80
A Fair – A Group of Gypsies – Men and Women in Rustic Clothes in Front of Two Makeshift Tents, Thomas Rowlandson British, Etching
A Fair – A Group of Gypsies – Men and Women in Rustic Clothes in Front of Two Makeshift Tents
Etcher Thomas Rowlandson
After Francis Wheatley
1786
Stroh Violin, George Evans & Co. English, Mahogany and aluminum, British
Stroh Violin
George Evans & Co.
first quarter 20th century

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