A new prop for a rickety stool, Isaac Cruikshank, 1798

Two lovers embrace within a small shed inscribed 'strong box' supported on a pole; a tailor with huge shears is about to cut the pole, saying, "i'll upset the basket". The open doors of the shed are 'modesty' and 'chastity'. Behind is sketched an equestrian statue with a railing, indicating a london square. On the right is a room, flanked on the left by a high folding screen on which are bills with the titles of chap-books or songs relating to tailors, the uppermost being 'the brighton taylor' (see bmsat 6942, &c). In the room five men with horns sprouting from their heads approach a (?) lawyer sitting at a writing-table, who says, "say & seal, i say said & sealed". One stands on a three-legged stool, two legs of which have been replaced by moneybags, each inscribed '£2,500'. He says: "joys that none but a married man can know - would that there was a taylor here to measure them, but it would cost five thousand - " [other inscriptions have not been transcribed. ] an old man with a crutch looks round the screen at the lovers, saying, "d------d good trade ill go & get married too. " 28 february 1798 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1798. Dimensions: Height: 231 mm; Width: 330 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. A new prop for a rickety stool (BM 1868,0808.6704)