Dandies in Rotten Row
William Heath ('Paul Pry')|Thomas Tegg
January 21, 1819 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints
Rotten Row was the nickname for a road established along the southern edge of Hyde Park where fashionable Londoners paraded their carriages or rode on horseback. Men in particular used the site to display riding skills and show off the latest fashions. These dandies wear either spurred boots with riding britches, or ultra-fashionable short, wide-legged trousers. Their restrictive tailcoats have exaggerated narrow waists and wide lapels, but the humor is chiefly directed at their collars. The extended necks of these riders are so stiffly encased that their heads actually tilt backwards. With obscured vision, they are tossed about like ragdolls by their mounts. Subservience to fashion has turned these horsemen into ludicrous examples of folly.
- Artist
- William Heath ('Paul Pry')|Thomas Tegg
- Date
- January 21, 1819
- Medium
- Hand-colored etching
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, by Exchange, 1970
