The Welch Curate

Date1770-1785

Publisher Carington Bowles 1724 - 1793

Publisher Jonathan Carver 1710 - 1780

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint with line engraving

DimensionsPlate: 9 1/2" X 12"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1961-208

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Tho' lazy, the proud Prelate's fed,,/ This Curate eats no idle Bread/ Each Faculty and Limb beside,/ Eyes, Ears, Hands, Feet, are all employ'd./ His Wife at Washing_'Tis his Lot,/ To pare the Turnips, watch the Pot:/ He reads, and hears his Son read out;/ And rocks the Cradle with his foot/ THE/ WELCH CURATE.."Label TextThis satire on the clergy shows the interior of a cottage in which a young poor clergyman sits at a table, with a large book open before him from which he appears to be reading, while his hands are engaged in peeling a turnip and with one foot he rocks a baby in a cradle, he likewise hears a boy read aloud from a book. A pot hangs over the fire; a cat looks out of the window; a print of a man riding on a goat hangs on the wall. The verses below the print insinate that the curate's wife is supporting the family by doing washing for others.ProvenanceBefore 1961, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1961-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).