A woman is playing the harp as she and her male companion sing together, representing a man and a woman in love. Etching by James Gillray.

  • Gillray, James, 1756-1815.
Date:
October 25th 1805
Reference:
28520i
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view A woman is playing the harp as she and  her male companion sing together, representing a man and a woman in love. Etching by James Gillray.

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A woman is playing the harp as she and her male companion sing together, representing a man and a woman in love. Etching by James Gillray. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Description

"A pretty young woman and a fashionably dressed man sing together seated on upright chairs. She (r.) plays the harp, her head thrown back to look over her shoulder at the music-book which he holds open: 'Duets de l'amour'. On a round table which supports his elbow as he leans towards her is an open book: 'Ovid' [Art of Love]. She wears clinging draperies. Two cats gambol amorously on music-books on the ground. The elaborate décor of the room stresses the subject of the design. A large wall mirror (l.) hangs above a marble console which is supported on winged heads; a butterfly flies towards its own reflection. Chinese vases containing roses (twin flowers) flank a bowl in which gold-fish swim to meet each other. One vase only is fully visible; it is a scene of courtship. Below the console a heart-shaped vase, decorated with a Sphinx, stands on the floor. An oval picture elaborately framed hangs above the heads of the lovers: a Cupid fires a blunderbuss at two doves billing on a dove-cot. This is flanked by carvings of flowers with (l.) crossed torches (of Hymen) and (r.) the bow and arrows of Cupid. In the foreground (r.) is one corner of a console table supported by a grinning satyr with a cloven hoof; on it is a myrtle plant in an ornamental pot. The luxury of the room is shown by an arcaded wall with pilaster reflected in the mirror, and by a palm-tree pilaster"--Dorothy George in the British Museum catalogue, loc. cit.

Publication/Creation

London (27 St. James's Street) : H. Humphrey, October 25th 1805.

Physical description

1 print : etching ; image 23.4 x 34.4 cm

Lettering

Harmony before matrimony. Js. Gillray des. & ft.

Notes

Forms a pair with 'Matrimonial harmonics' (British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. VIII, London 1947, no. 10473), in which the couple are married but no longer in love

References note

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. VIII, London 1947, no. 10472

Reference

Wellcome Collection 28520i

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