22. William Hogarth
(1697-1764)
Two Receipts (A Stand of Arms, Musical Instruments, Etc.; Crown, Mitres, Maces, Etc.)

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Hogarth, Two Receipts

Two Receipts (A Stand of Arms, Musical Instruments, Etc.; Crown, Mitres, Maces, Etc.)

Etchings, 1746 and 1754, 180 x 230 mm. and 225 x 187 mm., Paulson 184 only state and 197 iv/iv. Fine, strong impressions on laid paper, the first with good margins, the second with narrow margins, laid down to larger sheets, the first numbered and initialed in ink, probably by Hogarth himself; light foxing and glue stains in the margins. As opposed to most of his predecessors in the field, Hogarth was an excellent businessman and one of the tools of his success was to take advance subscriptions for prints before they were actually printed. For this advance payment, Hogarth gave receipts – which were original prints themselves – and frequently signed and numbered them. These are two such, basically ornamental still-lifes but with elements drawn from contemporary political and social matters. The first shows a scissors cutting the Scottish arms from the British coat of arms, a nod to the backers of the Stuart Pretender to the throne; the second, offers a thanks to parliament for the Engravers’ Copyright Act of 1734/35, sometimes called “Hogarth’s Act,” which protected print engravers from piracies of their works. Important documents, yes, but also works of art. The pair