Who laughs to see these Children rear, a Structure which a breath o'erthrows...
Attributed to Elisha Kirkall British
After Charles Antoine Coypel French
Publisher George Bickham, Jr. British
Not on view
In this mezzotint an elegantly dressed boy and girl have erected a house of cards on a low, ornately carved stool on a terrace or balcony. They gesture as though to warn the viewer not to topple their construction. A poem in the lower margin comments on the humor and cost of the cards which soon will fall. An impression at the British Museum is attributed to Kirkall and their cataloguing points out that the image derives from a French engraving by François Joullain (1697–1778) published ca. 1725.
