Humming-birds–or–a Dandy Trio

George Humphrey|George Cruikshank|John Sheringham

July 15, 1819 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints

George Cruikshank etched this social satire after a design by the amateur artist John Sheringham. It shows three fashionable dandies in a well-furnished interior, with the man at left seated in a small lyre-backed chair, one leg propped up as he sings. He leans towards a second musician who reclines on a Regency style sofa and plays an ornate lute-like instrument while a third stands behind the sofa, looks at himself in the glass over an ornate fireplace and plays a flageolet. The singer's open music-book reads "Love has eyes," while books on the floor are titled "The Lovesick Swain Set to Music" and "Our Warbling Notes and Ivory Lutes Shall Ravish Every Ear." Portraits on the wall include a man and a woman in Van Dyck costume and to images that offer mildly critical commentary with that at left labeled "Vacuna," showing a goddess of rural leisure lying under a tree and the other representing "Narcissus" admiring his own reflection. On one end of the sofa, a poodle suckles her puppies.

Artist

George Humphrey|George Cruikshank|John Sheringham

Date

July 15, 1819

Medium

Hand-colored etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Jill Spalding, 2022