Vol. II of Caricatures Macaronies & Characters by Sundry Ladies and Gentleman Artists &c.

Date1772

Publisher Matthew Darly ca. 1720 - 1780

Publisher Mary Darly 1760 - 1781

Designed and engraved by M. Darly

OriginEngland, London

MediumHand-colored etching with line engraving

DimensionsOverall: 8 1/2 × 5 5/8in. (21.6 × 14.3cm)
Other (Plate): 7 1/8 × 5 1/8in. (18.1 × 13cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1955-62,26

DescriptionTitle reads: "VOL II/ OF/ CARICATURES./ MACARONIES/ & CHARACTERS/ BY/ SUNDRY LADIES GENTLE.N/ ARTISTS &c./ PUB.D/ BY MDARLY N.O 39/ STRAND/ 1772."Label TextThis is the frontispiece for volume two of a set of satirical prints by husband-and-wife team Matthew and Mary Darly who made name for themselves by capitalizing on the upper classes craze for caricatures, the practice of making a likeness with exaggerated mannerisms or features to create a comic effect. The Darly’s catered to this audience by publishing a prolific assortment of caricature prints during the 1770s. Their most famous work was their encyclopedic "Caricatures" which included prints of macaroni’s as well as other interesting characters all based on their own drawings and those submitted to them by amateur artists lambasting their friends, artists, and other figures in London life. The front page of Volume I describes them as “…a Series of Drol[l] Prints consisting of Heads, Figures, Conversations and Satires upon the follies of the Age…” These prints were published in groups of 24, in six volumes that were published between 1771 and 1773. Colonial Williamsburg owns volumes 1-4.

Colored by hand this is the title page of the second volume of satires concerned with the macaroni’s.ProvenanceBefore 1955, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1955-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).