The Macaroni Cauldron.

£1,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Rare. OCLC records examples of this print at the BM , Yale (x2) and the Getty (not in the online catalogue). Like the example in the BM our impression has no.17 in the upper left-hand corner of the plate. A fine satire on gambling amongst the fashionable upper classes which likens the players to the witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Six gentlemen in long coats (resembling cloaks) and pointed hats sit around an oval table playing a game with dice and counters. Beneath the image the text reads: “Some muffled like the witches in Macbeth, Brood o’er the magic circle, pale as death! Others, the Cauldron go about - about - And ruin enters as the fates run out!“ The gentleman standing (who may be a caricature of a contemporary political figure) has a piece of paper protruding from his pocket with “An Act o Parlt. to restrain excessive Gaming” written on it suggesting the hypocritical state of affairs that those who pass laws concerning gaming are as equally guilty of gambling themselves. A similar costume is worn by the gentleman depicted in The Fortunate Macaroni (1772). Husband and wife Matthew (c.1721-1780) and Mary Darly (1736-1791) produced many prints based around the idea of the “Macaroni” - usually mocking the fashionable upper classes. The present example has a note engraved in the lower left-hand corner: “to be had with many other macaronies pubd by MDarly (39) Strand”.

• Binding: Hardcover

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