Pinchee, or the Bauble Macaroni

Matthew Darly

Pinchee, or the Bauble Macaroni

London, M. Darly The Strand Dec. 29^th.   1772

Etching

175 x 130 mm

£160

Portrait of a man standing in profile to the right, holding in his right hand a conical vessel. He wears a tie-wig, three-cornered hat and frilled shirt

BM 5055

The title, and the resemblance to his engraved portrait, show that he is Christopher Pinchbeck the younger (c. 1710-83), the inventor, holding one of his inventions, perhaps his celebrated candlesnuffers. He is described in his patents as “toyman and mechanician”. As an anti-Wilkite he was a subject of raillery: ‘The London Evening Post’, 19-21 Nov. 1772, forecast the possible election as president of the Royal Society of “no less a person than the noted Pinchbeck, buckle and knickknack maker to the King.” Cf. Mason’s ‘Ode to Mr. Pinchbeck’, 1776.