The House that Jack Built.

Isaac Cruikshank the Elder

The House that Jack Built.

London, S W Fores Sept 28^th. 1804

Etching

Original hand colouring

150 x 340 mm

£140

A row of four small caricatures, each with rows of  description.

1. Catalani sings on the stage, music-book in one hand, her left hand on her breast. She is a woman, not a cat as in No. 11415. Below:
   ‘This is the Cat engaged to squall
   To the Poor in the Pigeon Holes . . .’ [&c.]
   2.John Bull stands blowing his bugle horn, a cane in his left hand. He has no dog and no placard and is more fashionable, less fat and exuberant
   ‘This is John Bull with his Bugle
   horn who Hissed the Cat . . .’ [&c.]
   3. The thief-taker (Townsend) walks instead of running to the left. He holds a constable’s staff in his right hand (instead of clenching his fist), a cudgel in the left, has no pistols, and is less ruffianly. There are no ‘Traps’ on the stage. Below:
   ‘This the is [sic; ‘the’ is inserted with a caret] Thief-taker shaven & shorn
   That took up John Bull. . .’ [&c.]
   4. Kemble stands on the stage, full face, legs apart, with arms folded, his hat hanging from one hand, more resolutely defiant, and less merely ill-tempered than in No. 11415. Below:
   ‘This is the Manager, full of scorn . . .’ [&c.]