A domestic interior. In the upper margin is engraved, "give me the sweet delight of love - a catch", and the design illustrates the lines of the catch:
"a smoky house, a failing trade,
six squalling brats, and a scolding jade. "
a man (full-face) stands disconsolately, his hands clasped while his virago of a wife (left) threatens him with her fist. One small child pulls his coat and points to a little brother kicking on the floor, while a rather older girl weeps with her pinafore to her eyes, and another boy blows a trumpet. This group is on the right. On the left one child clutches another by the hair. The man's toes protrude through one of his shoes, he is without breeches, and these hang from a nail on the wall (right) next his wife's hat. A parroquet sits screeching on the outside of its cage. The plaster has fallen from the wall in patches, showing bricks. A smoky fire burns in the grate (left); on the chimney-piece are tea-things. 1 august 1781
hand-coloured etching. Date: 1781. Dimensions: Height: 225 mm; Width: 281 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. Les plaisir du mènage (BM 1868,0808.4767)
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