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An Antiquarian

Etcher Frederick George Byron British
After Thomas Rowlandson British
Publisher William Holland British
October 23, 1789
Not on view
A shortsighted antiquarian approaches an Egyptian mummy and is startled to find it wearing spectacles and grinning at him with amusement. Rowlandson delighted in mocking the foibles of his countrymen. In this case his target was the taste for antiquities that flourished in England during the eighteenth century and led to the formation of gentlemanly societies and institutions such as the British Museum. Rowlandson etched this vigorous design himself, but the color washes would have been added in the shop of his publisher, William Holland.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: An Antiquarian
  • Etcher: Frederick George Byron (British, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire 1764–1792 Bristol)
  • Artist: After Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Publisher: William Holland (British, 1757–1815)
  • Date: October 23, 1789
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching and aquatint
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 14 3/4 × 10 11/16 in. (37.4 × 27.1 cm)
    Plate: 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (36.2 x 26 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.533.321
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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