- Museum number
- 1876,1014.8
- Title
- Object: A. gallows. A. hanging collar. A. cut down or Coatzwarro
- Description
-
Three men, each described by the different sections of the title, illustrate the fashions of the day. [1] On the left a man, standing before a makeshift dressing-table, adds the last touches to his complexion before putting on his coat, his face being reflected in the draped mirror; in his left hand is a rouge-pot. He wears long tight-fitting breeches, held up under his arms by braces; a curious projection extends beyond his shirt-frill. His feet are bare and his stockings are without feet; his slippers lie beside him. Two long heavy chains with seals hang from the upper edge of his high-waisted breeches. He wears whiskers and a curled wig with a queue. On the dressing-table and in its open drawer are pots of 'lip salve', 'cork', 'Pear[l]', a tooth-brush, &c.
[2] At the back of the table, half of which serves as a dressing-table for [1], sits a disappointed gambler, his chair tilted, his right elbow resting on the table on which are dice, dice-box, and an empty purse. He holds a switch in his hand, playing-cards are under his feet. He has whiskers, wears a high-crowned hat, a coat with a shawl-like collar which stands back from his neck, low shoes with large buckles.
[3] A man stands (left) in back view scratching his cropped head. Under his left arm is a bludgeon. His coat is cut away into narrow tails which end almost in a point. He wears short top-boots with long spurs. From his coat-pocket, which is at the back of his coat, protrudes a paper inscribed 'To Cure a Scab'd Head.' 22 September 1791
Hand-coloured etching
- Production date
- 1791
- Dimensions
-
Height: 254 millimetres (printed image)
-
Width: 376 millimetres (plate-mark)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VI, 1938)
One of many satires on the men's dress of 1791, see BMSat 8040, &c. Part of the dress of a 'fashionable crop' is 'a gallows [braces] coloured in blue or crimson sattin, [which] keeps the breeches suspended from the clavicle'. 'Bon Ton Magazine', i. 271. 'The natty beaux who appear so stiff, in consequence of wearing a gallows, are since the death of the hanging musician called kotswarras!' ibid., p. 276 (1 Oct. 1791). Franz Kotzwarra hanged himself on 2 Sept. 1791 in a house of ill-fame in London. Grove, 'Mus. Dict.'
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2002 Jan-Mar, Newcastle, Hatton Gall, Followers of Fashion
2002 Jun-Jul, Belfast, Ulster Mus, Followers of Fashion
2002 Aug-Sep, Nottingham, Djanogly AG, Followers of Fashion
2002/3 Dec-Feb, Brighton MAG, Followers of Fashion
2003 Apr-Jun, Braintree District Mus, Followers of Fashion
- Acquisition date
- 1876
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1876,1014.8