Six Stages of Mending a Face, Dedicated with respect to the Right Hon-ble. Lady Archer
Artist and publisher Thomas Rowlandson British
Subject Lady Sarah Archer British
Not on view
Rowlandson mocks the extreme measures that an aging socialite pursues to appear young and beautiful. She is shown unadorned at upper right–bald, toothless, half-blind and with fallen breasts–then progressively “mends” herself by inserting a false eye and teeth, putting on a long curled wig, and transforming her face and arms with cosmetics. Fashionable clothes and jewelry, and rouge applied with a rabbit’s foot, complete the illusion, until she is ready to attend a masquerade. Lady Sarah Archer, evoked in the print’s dedication, was often mocked by caricaturists for her heavy use of cosmetics. In the eighteenth century make-up was popular among upper class women but also was much criticized. Since face paint and rouge often contain high levels of lead, they could be dangerous, and their users were condemned for sacrificing health to vanity.
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