…’and would’st thou turn the vile Reproach on me?’

James Gillray
—‘ and would’st thou turn the vile Reproach on me ?’
London, H. Humphrey Feb. 2nd. 1807
Etching
Original hand colouring
250 x 350 mm
Trimmed within platemark, neat repair to top right border, not affecting image.
£580
A grotesquely hideous man, lean and elderly, sits in an armchair addressing a comely young woman who stands demurely , her pose accentuating her pregnancy. Behind them is an empty fireplace; on the chimney-piece is a Venus pudica flanked by cupids, one with a bow and arrow, the other with a torch. On the wall are two pictures; a cock and hen facing each other like fighting-cocks, and a horse in the last stage of decrepitude, assailed by carrion birds.
BM 10802