John Jones after William Redmore Bigg

Black Monday or the Departure for School. [&] Dulce Domum or the Return from School.

24 x 19 inches

A pair of colour-printed mezzotint engravings by John Jones after the paintings by W. R. Bigg, published in London in 1790.

These beautiful, quintessentially Georgian domestic scenes will strike a chord with all those who fear the start of term and the return to school. In the first plate two brothers prepare to leave the family home and say farewell to mother, sister and the servants. The trunks are packed, cakes have been baked and tears are being bravely withheld. In contrast, the second plate depicts the joyful return from school for the holidays with the same cast of characters in a much more cheerful frame of mind. The sentimentality of the subject matter aside, these prints also provide us with a fascinating record of the furniture, fashions and interiors of late C18th England. The tea urn, the trunk, the teaspoons: they all tell a tale of how the well-to-do lived during the reign of George III.

John Jones (1745 - 1797) was a mezzotint and stipple engraver of decorative subjects after his contemporaries. He lived and worked in London and his talent as an engraver of exceptional merit was rewarded by being appointed Engraver to both the Prince of Wales and The Duke of York.

£2600 Pair