FREDERICK having put a Period to his own existence, his Corpse is arrested for Debt, and denied Interment.

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 number1959-83,12

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "FREDERICK having put a Period to his own existence, his Corpse is arrested for Debt, and denied Interment./ 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 final print 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.

Frederick has died and lies in his coffin in the sitting room of his house. A gun and bullet mold resting on the sofa suggest Frederick has taken his life. His wife and two children mourn beside the coffin. A man, possibly an officer of the court, holds a tipstaff and points to an arrest warrant for Frederick's body. In 18th century England, debtor's bodies could be seized and denied burial until their debts were settled. Creditors have arrived to collect their debts. Someone takes an inventory of Frederick's property while another man places lot numbers on the furniture to prepare them for auction. Silver and other valuables are piled on the floor.ProvenanceBefore 1959, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1959-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).