Marriage A-la-Mode, Plate 1: The Marriage Settlement

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: No

Description: Marriage A-la-Mode is a series of six engravings based on oil paintings by William Hogarth. As in the original paintings, the prints offer a scathing critique of the idea that the aristocracy and wealthy live moral or virtuous lives. Hogarth satirises the institution of arranged marriage, portraying a young couple and their circle engaging in infidelity, drunkenness, gambling, and various other vices.nThe first engraving depicts the negotiation of a marriage contract between the son of the bankrupt Earl Squanderfield and the daughter of a wealthy but miserly merchant. The Earl reclines in an ornate chair, flamboyantly dressed, and proudly displays his family tree tracing his lineage back to William the Conquerorhis main contribution to the match. Across the table, the merchant studies the contract through a lorgnette, signalling his focus on financial advantage.nTo the right, the bride and groom sit awkwardly back-to-back on a small settee, visibly detached. The young Viscount gazes admiringly into a mirror, while a black patch on his neck may hint at a syphilitic sore. The bride, downcast, threads a handkerchief through a ringan emblem of her unwilling entrapmentwhile being comforted by the lawyer Silvertongue, who is implied to be her future lover. Outside, scaffolding surrounds an unfinished Palladian-style mansion, a costly vanity project that contributes to the Earls financial ruin.nIn the foreground, two dogs chained together symbolically echo the couples own constrained and loveless union.

Engraver: Scotin, Gérard Jean-Baptiste (1698-after 1755)

First published: London: William Hogarth, 1745

Image Size (cm): 45×35.3

Mapmaker: Hogarth, William (1697-1764)

Notes: Purchase details

Other states: After Hogarths death in 1764, the plates passed through various publishers and were reissued multiple times

Primary Category: Prints & Related Material

References: Paulson 158

Sheet size (cm): 49×40

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1745