Beer Street, William Hogarth, between 1751 and 1760

Copy of third state: a flourishing urban scene with well fed citizens; in the foreground, butchers, fish wives and a city of london porter hold large tankards of beer; a butcher lifts a joint of meat into the air with one hand; in the background, paviours repair the street, chairmen carry a stout lady, tailors sew in a well lit attic, builders work on the roof of a house clad with scaffolding, and a warehouseman hauls a barrel to an upper storey - all are drinking beer; poverty appears only in the ragged coat of the artist painting the tavern sign and, more particularly, in the collapsing house of "n pinch pawn broker"; an early copy after the engraving by hogarth in the same direction. After 1751 etching and engraving. Date: between 1751 and 1760. Dimensions: Height: 354 mm; Width: 250 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. Beer Street (BM 1978,U.3482)