Heading to a song of twenty-five verses printed in three columns. A barber kneels at the feet of a pretty fishwife who leans back with folded arms against the wall of a public-house, her basket of fish beside her. On the wall above the barber's head is a playbill: 'romeo & juliet'. In the background (left) is the barber's shop, with a placard: 'gentle-m[en] shavd for 1 penny glas of gin'; through the open door is a wig on a wig-block, the window with wigs hanging up, &c. The sign over the door is a wig on a realistic head. On the public-house (right) is a placard: 'purl at 4 o'clock in the morning'. A man is coming out of the door with a small tankard and glass. Between and behind the barber and his girl sits a stout fishwife with a basket of fish. The verses begin:
'in liquor-pond-street, it is well known to many,
an artist resided, who shav'd for a penny,
cut hair for three halfpence, for three-pence he bled,
and would draw, for a groat, ev'ry tooth in your head. ' 1 july 1791. Etching. Date: 1791. Dimensions: Height: 383 mm; Width: 236 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. The barber's wedding (BM 1868,0808.6147)
Loading...
