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A Change in the Petticoats, or the Years 1780 &1817

Attributed to William Heath ('Paul Pry') British
Publisher Thomas Tegg British
1817
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 099
This fashion satire responds to the short skirts that became fashionable in London around 1817. At left, a mature woman represents the modes of yore in an enormous hooped petticoat, a long pointed stomacher, and a calash hood worn over a large plain cap. She is amazed by a modern young woman who adopts a fashionable stooped posture (also seen in Heath's "Belle's and Beaus, or a Scene in Hyde Park," 1817 (1970.541.148)). Bared breasts and shoulders are accentuated by a high waisted dress with large bishop sleeves. A projecting skirt ends above the knees and exposes flat slippers fastened with ribbons and, on the head, a bonnet with a scooped brim and cylindrical crown is trimmed with flowers and feathers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Change in the Petticoats, or the Years 1780 &1817
  • Artist: Attributed to William Heath ('Paul Pry') (British, Northumbria 1794/95–1840 Hampstead)
  • Publisher: Thomas Tegg (British, London 1776–1846 London)
  • Date: 1817
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Image: 7 3/4 × 12 3/16 in. (19.7 × 31 cm)
    Sheet: 9 5/16 × 13 7/8 in. (23.7 × 35.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Jill Spalding, 2022
  • Object Number: 2022.309.14
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Cameleopard, or a new hobby, William Heath ('Paul Pry') British, Graphite
The Cameleopard, or a new hobby
Attributed to William Heath ('Paul Pry')
Subject George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland
Subject Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham
1827
On the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey, William Callow British, Watercolor
On the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey
William Callow
September 30, 1858
Imaginary View of Venice, houses at left with figures on terraces, a domed church at center in the background, boats and boat-sheds below, and a seated man observing from a wall at right in the foreground, from "Views" (Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate da Antonio Canal), Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Italian, Etching; undivided plate, only state
Imaginary View of Venice, houses at left with figures on terraces, a domed church at center in the background, boats and boat-sheds below, and a seated man observing from a wall at right in the foreground, from "Views" (Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate da Antonio Canal)
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)
Dedicatee Joseph Smith
1741
Marble female figure, Marble, Cycladic
Marble female figure
Cycladic
4500–4000 BCE
The Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom Kings, William Heath ('Paul Pry') British, Hand-colored etching
The Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom Kings
Multiple artists/makers
May 29, 1815

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