CHARLES concluding a Treaty of Marriage, with the Daughter of the Nobleman.

Date1787

Publisher Carington Bowles 1724 - 1793

MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 9 5/8 × 15 1/2 in (24.45 × 39.37cm)
Other (Platemark): 6 3/4 × 10 3/4 in (17.14 × 27.3cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1959-83,7

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "CHARLES concluding a Treaty of Marriage, with the Daughter of the Nobleman./ 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 seventh 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.

Charles and his future father-in-law negotiate the terms of a marriage agreemen. The scene is set in an office. Charles, and an advisor negotiate with the nobleman, while a lawyer draws up the contract.They are gathered around a table with several documents laid out, a snuff box, inkwell, wallet, and some coins. The room is furnished with a large secretary desk, a hanging bookcase, and a map on rollers (Bowles' England) hanging on the wall. Several large books are stacked on the floor behind the gentleman drawing up the papers. Other books can be seen in the top of the desk and in the bookcase.ProvenanceBefore 1959, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1959-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).