German Luxury. Or Repos a L’ Allemande

Thomas Rowlandson Afer James Gillray

German Luxury. Or Repos a L’ Allemande

London, ca. 1828

Etching and stipple

Original hand colouring

175 x 250 mm

£125.

Similar to and perhaps related to a series of small copies by Rowlandson of an earlier Gillray satire, in reverse, published by Ackermann in 1803, this example printed on Whatman paper of 1828

A German officer lies on his back on a truckle bed in a poverty-stricken room. He smokes a long curved pipe, emitting clouds of smoke. His bare feet project from the striped duvet which is his only covering; on his nightcap is an insect. The plaster has fallen from the wall leaving large patches of brick; on it hang his sword, cloak, cocked hat, and a bust portrait of Frederick the Great inscribed ‘F. 11’. The only objects on the boarded floor are a close-stool (left) with a torn ‘Brussells Gazette’, a chamber-pot, and pair of jack-boots (right).