The sad discovery or the graceless apprentice., Thomas Rowlandson, 1785

The interior of a bedroom. A young man crawls from under a large four-post bed on which a young woman is kneeling, holding up her arms in supplication towards an elderly man and woman in night attire who have entered from the right behind a watchman and a man with a blunderbuss; the latter kneels, pointing his weapon at the apprentice. The watchman puts his staff under the bed to push out the apprentice; his lantern stands on the floor beside him. 30 november 1785 etching. Date: 1785. Dimensions: Height: 201 mm (cropped); Width: 289 mm (cropped). Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. The sad discovery or the graceless apprentice. (BM 1872,1214.345)