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The City Rout

Publisher Published London by Matthias Darly British
Publisher Published London by Mary Darly British
May 20, 1776
Not on view
Two elaborately dressed, coarse looking women face one another at a "rout" or social gathering for City of London tradesmen and their wives. Members of this class had recently grown wealthy through trade and could afford to ape the aristocracy. The image suggests that the adornments chosen by these party-goers are ill-suited to their bulky forms and graceless manners. In addition to richly embellished gowns and elaborate high hair-dos, one woman wears long ostrich feathers – expensive status symbols made au courant by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Refreshments carried by a short liveried waiter with unkempt hair underscore the mixture of low class and high taste. Elegant jelly glasses perch above a down-to-earth pie and foaming tankard of ale.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The City Rout
  • Artist: After Richard St. George Mansergh St. George (Irish, ca. 1750–1798)
  • Publisher: Published London by Matthias Darly (British, ca. 1720–1780 London)
  • Publisher: Published London by Mary Darly (British, active 1760–81)
  • Date: May 20, 1776
  • Medium: Etching
  • Dimensions: sheet: 9 3/4 x 13 15/16 in. (24.7 x 35.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.888-261
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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