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Egbert van Heemskerck II - Print, satirical print (BM 1866,0407.52)

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Egbert van Heemskerck II - Print, satirical print (BM 1866,0407.52)

description

Summary

A satire political ignorance set in a country barber-surgeon's shop in which the people have been given the heads of animals. At centre left, an old woman with the head of a cat, is being bled by a man with the head of an elephant whose hand is on her left breast, a monkey-headed boy holds a basin to catch the blood spurting from her arm. Behind them a man, with a boar's head wearing a work-apron reads from the Grub Street Journal to a man with the head of an ass and a bell round his neck. In the centre a cat-man sitting on a barrel holding a shaving dish has his whiskers trimmed by a barber with an ape's head on top of which is a flamboyant hat with long feathers. An ape-man behind waits his turn, and a man with two wooden legs and a crutch leaves through an open door. Overhead on the left is a projecting sign from which hangs a board showing an owl beneath which is written "Shave & Bleed for A Peny". Stuffed creatures hang from the ceiling: a grotesque fish, an eel with gaping moth, and an ape. The wall at the rear has been chalked with tallies and three wigs hang from it. A table in the foreground on the right has pulled teeth and various barbers' instruments on it. A hat with a large feather lies on the ground.
Etching and engraving

date_range

Date

1850 - 1950
create

Source

British Museum
copyright

Copyright info

public domain

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