The captain's so kind as to thrust in a note, while old lady cuckoo is straining her throat

Humphrey, William (ca. 1740-ca. 1810)

Item type:

print

Date of creation:

1777

Height:

35.6 cm  (14 in.)

Width:

24.8 cm  (9 3/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

etching, hand-coloured, on paper

Description

A woman sits at a keyboard instrument and plays, while a man leans on a chair behind her. A dog appears in the foreground, and a parrot appears in the background on the left. Two framed paintings appear on the wall in the background. One shows three musicians, a bystander, and a dog, and the other one shows two musicians, a chained bear, and two other bystanders.

Iconclass

48C7523
one person playing keyboard instrument

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Keyboard instruments [2230]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Leppert, Richard D. "Men, women, and music at home: The influence of cultural values on musical life in eighteenth-century England", Imago Musicae 2 (1985) 51-133, fig. 45. RILM 1985-6899.

Notes

The caption of the print reads as follows:
"'The Captain's so kind as to thrust in a Note'
'While old Lady Cuckoo is straining her Throat'
Pub. 9 May 1777, by W., Humphrey, Gerrard Street, Soho."

Sources disagree about the identity of the artist. Leppert wrote in his article that this is "an anonymous satirical print published by William Humphrey," (p. 112), while the website of the Minneapolis Institute of Art identifies the artist as William Humphrey.

RIdIM record id

10873