The Printshop Window

~ Caricature & Graphic Satire in the Long Eighteenth-Century

The Printshop Window

Category Archives: Robert Seymour

Robert Seymour’s ‘Looking Glass’ at the Huntington Library

22 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by theprintshopwindow in displays and museums, Exhibitions, Robert Seymour

≈ Leave a comment

The Huntington possesses a trove of images from the golden age of British caricature—most notably by artists Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and Isaac Cruikshank (1764–1811). It also owns some gems by Robert Seymour (1798–1836), an illustrator whose fame grew around the time of Rowlandson’s death. Today, Seymour is probably best known as the illustrator of the […] […]

via Ian Haywood on Robert Seymour’s ‘The Looking Glass’ at the Huntington Library — Romantic Illustration Network

Gone fishing with Robert Seymour

20 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by theprintshopwindow in Robert Seymour

≈ 2 Comments

Seymour waltonizing3

Robert Seymour, Waltonizing or – Green-land Fishermen, c.1830

This is a pristine example of a relatively rare angling caricature by the English satirist and illustrator Robert Seymour. It was published by Thomas McLean of London’s Haymarket sometime around 1830 and may have been a forerunner to the series of humorous lithographic illustrations that Seymour was commissioned to produce for Richard Penn’s Maxims and Hints For an Angler: and Miseries of Fishing in 1833.

The 1820s and 1830s witnessed the birth of angling as a recreational pastime of the British urban middle classes. It was a craze that was reflected in a growing number of caricatures by Seymour and his contemporaries such as Henry Heath, Alfred Crowquill, C.J. Grant and John Doyle; all of whom sought to profit from those keen to celebrate or denigrate the arrival of this new sport.

The title and subtitle of the print contain numerous punning references to the culture which grew up around fishing at that time. “Waltonizing” is a reference to Seymour waltonizingIzaak Walton, the godfather of English line-fishing, whose 1653 treatise The Compleat Angler had been republished in a hugely successful revised edition in 1824  (a copy of which is being used as bait by one optimistic fisherman in the print). The quote which appears at the foot of the design; “Be quiet to go a-Angling” is taken from the second chapter of Walton’s book and is evidently intended as a humorous counterpoint to the chaotic scene unfolding in the image above. The subtitle; Green-land Fisherman, is  presumably a reference to the ancient thoroughfare of Green Lane, which ran alongside the River Lea through the London suburb of Harringay and was a popular out-of-town fishing spot in Seymour’s day.

The image contains a comical parade of six weekend fisherman who are struggling to get to grips with their new hobby. On the far left we see an affluent angler arrayed in his fashionable country attire, engaged in an angry exchange with an army officer whose line has become entangled in his own. To his right, a fat parson slips and falls into the river, exposing a well-stocked picnic basket which hints at the real motivation behind his trip into the country. Next come two dandies who demonstrate their ignorance of the sport by trying to land a piglet that has fallen in the river. Finally, another well-dressed angler sits glumly staring into space as his rod dangles ineffectually in the water; undoubtedly a jibe at those whose interest in fishing was motivated entirely by a desire to be seen keeping up with the latest trends.

The contemporary owner has added their own text to this print in pencil. The speech-bubbles are a little faded but we can still make out the clergyman shouting “Oh Izaak, Oh Izaak” and one of the useless fops enthusiastically exclaiming “prodigious” as he tries to catch the drowning pig in his net. Modifications such as these were actually relatively common and reflect the strong tradition of the amateur in English caricature during the long eighteenth-century. The habit of amending finished Seymour waltonizing2caricature prints is a subject which has largely escaped serious historical study, perhaps because modified prints rarely appear among the immaculate caricatures that make up the bulk of the collections owned by public and academic institutions. Nevertheless, the frequency with which one encounters such prints in private collections, indicates that contemporary consumers had a far more tactile relationship with caricatures than we tend to assume and that some prints may even had been deliberately designed to allow for this interaction. The figures in this print for example, are arranged in a manner which conveys a sense of discourse, while the surfeit of sky in the middle ground leaves ample room for text, but no speech has actually been added to the original plate. Could it be that McLean deliberately asked Seymour to omit text from his design because he knew that his customers liked to add their own witticisms to the prints they bought?   

Recent Posts

  • C.J. Grant, The Caricaturist, A Monthly Show Up, 1831-1832
  • J.V. Quick, A Form of Prayer to be Said… Throughout the Land of Locusts, 1831
  • A Designing Character: A Biographical Sketch of Joseph Lisle (1798 – 1839)
  • Original works by John Collet (1728 – 1780)
  • The Origins of The Plumb-Pudding In Danger?

Recent Comments

Fake Drake, boxing,… on Going to a Fight, Isaac Robert…
Jonny Duval on C.J. Grant, The Caricaturist,…
theprintshopwindow on C.J. Grant, The Caricaturist,…
jonny duval on C.J. Grant, The Caricaturist,…
C.J. Grant, The Cari… on Guest Post: “They quarre…

Archives

  • December 2022
  • December 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • October 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013

Blogroll

  • Boston 1775
  • Cradled in Caricature
  • Francis Douce Collection Blog
  • Georgian Bawdyhouse
  • Georgian London
  • James Gillray: Caricaturist
  • Mate Sound the Pump
  • My Staffordshire Figures
  • Princeton Graphic Arts
  • The Droll Hackabout
  • The Lewis Walpole Library Blog
  • The Victorian Peeper
  • Yesterday's Papers

C18th caricatures for sale

  • Sale listings

Online resources

  • Resource archive

Useful sites

  • British Museum Collection Database
  • British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
  • Brown University Collection of Napoleonic Satires
  • Locating London's Past
  • London Lives
  • Old Bailey Online
  • The South Sea Bubble Collection at Harvard Business School
  • Treasures of Cheatham's Library

Contact me

printshopwindow[at]gmail.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The Printshop Window
    • Join 114 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Printshop Window
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...