The Bench

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

The portraits and social satires of William Hogarth, painter and engraver, have come to define the period in which he lived. His best known works include his series of satirical of paintings, such as ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ (c.1729, Birmingham City Art Gallery, private collection and National Gallery of Art, Washington) and ‘A Rake’s Progress’ (c.1734, Sir John Soane's Museum, London). He also painted formal portraits, including the philanthropist ‘Captain Thomas Coram’ (1740, Coram family, in the care of the Foundling Museum, London) and ‘The Graham Children’ (1742, National Gallery, London). Hogarth lived and worked in London for most of his life and was a major benefactor of the Foundling Museum during the 1740s, founded by Captain Coram.

People

William Noel (1695 - 1762), Sir John Willes (1685 - 1761), Henry, 2nd Earl Bathurst Bathurst (1714 - 1797), Sir Edward Clive (1704 - 1771)

Places

Subjects

quill, scroll (as Subject), reading (as Subject), satire, beard, robe, wig, fur, pince-nez, legal bands, judge, law court, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, trial

Materials & Techniques

engraving

Artist

William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)
18th - 19th century unknown

Title

The Bench

Date

Medium

Engraving

Dimensions

height: 23.70 cm, width: 29.60 cm

Acquisition

origin uncertain

Provenance

found in Clifford's Inn, London, April 2012

GAC number

18451