James Gillray
Thirty years have I lived in the parish of Covent Garden, and nobody can say-Mistress Cole-Why did you so?
London, H. Humphrey 16th. December 1797
Etching
Original hand colouring
260 x 175 mm
£680
A face, wearing a plumed military hat, looks to the right out of a ferociously spurred military jack-boot which stands in profile to the left. The back of the head is concealed by the peak of the boot, which protects the wearer’s knee. The quotation (from Foote’s ‘Minor’) continues: ‘and nobody can say – Mistress Cole – why did you so?’ The officer is identified as Colonel (or Captain) Watson. There are many Watsons in the 1797 ‘Army List’. For Mother Cole, the sanctimonious bawd.
