CHARLES at Breakfast in a genteel private Family.

Date1787

Publisher Carington Bowles 1724 - 1793

MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 9 3/8 × 15 5/8 in (23.81 × 39.69cm)
Other (Platemark): 7 × 11 in (17.78 × 27.94cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1959-83,3

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "CHARLES at Breakfast in a genteel private Family./ 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 third 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 fortune, Charles, the virtuous brother, has breakfast with a "genteel private family." Their home is nicely furnished home to breakfast. Several straight chairs, table and a mirror are the furnishings of the room. An older gentleman and a young lady sit at the table with Charles.The table is set with a large coffee urn, a smaller pot, creamer, sugar bowl, and bowls. A small dog has placed his front paws on the knee of the older man in a begging position.ProvenanceBefore 1959, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1959-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).