Marriage A-la-Mode, Plate II, William Hogarth, 1745

"the tête à tête" (after the painting in the national gallery); a lavishly furnished interior where the newly-weds sprawl on chairs in front of a fireplace in the early hours of the morning; he has been out on the town, while she has been playing cards to the accompaniment of musicians; their steward leaves the room in despair at getting them to pay bills; the decor includes an elaborate ormulu clock, chinese porcelain and figures, a bust of a roman matron, old master paintings (one, evidently erotic, is screened by a curtain). 1745 etching and engraving, the viscountess's face touched with wash. Date: 1745. Dimensions: Height: 385 mm (plate mark); Height: 439 mm (sheet); Width: 460 mm (plate mark); Width: 514 mm (sheet). Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. Marriage A-la-Mode, Plate II (BM 1868,0822.1561)