FREDERICK elegantly furnishing a large House.

Date1787

Publisher Carington Bowles 1724 - 1793

MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 9 1/2 × 15 3/8 in (24.13 × 39.05cm)
Other (Platemark): 6 3/4 × 10 3/4 in (17.14 × 27.3cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1959-83,2

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "FREDERICK elegantly furnishing a large House./ Printed for & Sold by Carington Bowles,/ N.o 69 St. Paul's Church Yard, London./ Published as the Act directs, 31 August, 1787."Label TextThe second in a series of twelve prints representing the "Contrast between Virtue and Vice exhibited in the Characters of Two Brothers." This print is a continuation of the moral narrative that chronicles the fates of two brothers named Charles and Frederick, who travel down different paths after receiving their inheritance. What follows is a cautionary tale about virtue and vice, a popular topic of prints like William Hogarth's "Modern Moral Conversations" or those depicting the parable of the Prodigal Son.

After receiving his inheritance, he furnished his large townhouse with fashionable furnishings. One mirror has been hung, and one is in the process of being hung. Frederick is being fitted with new clothes by his tailor while discussing a vase that a servant is showing him. A woman sits in a chair by a table holding fabric swatches. Another chart like this lies on the floor at Frederick's feet. A small dog plays on the carpeted floor.ProvenanceBefore 1959, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1959-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).