The Humours of an Election (Set of FOUR Prints) - Prints

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Set of Lithograph prints by William Hogarth on Paper. SET OF PRINTS. Size: 24" x 18" (610mm x 450mm). Get all four prints for price of two! A set of 4 high quality prints produced by Kingfisher. The Humours of an Election is a series of four engravings by William Hogarth that illustrate the election of a Member of Parliament in Oxfordshire in 1754. The oil paintings were created in 1755 and subsequently Hogarth created the engravings. The first three prints, 'An Election Entertainment', 'Canvassing for Votes' and 'The Polling', demonstrate the corruption endemic in parliamentary elections in the 18th century, before the Great Reform Act. The last print 'Chairing the Member' shows the celebrations of the victorious Tory candidates and their supporters. At this time each constituency elected two MPs, and there was a property qualification for voters, so only a minority of the male population was enfranchised. There was no secret ballot, so bribery and intimidation were rife. However, this traditional view has been questioned by recent historians who observed a lively local political participation in this time. The original paintings are held by Sir John Soane's Museum, London. An Election Entertainment depicts a tavern dinner organised by the Whig candidates, while the Tories protest outside. The Tories are carrying an anti-Semitic caricature of a Jew, a reference to recent legislation passed by the Whig government which allowed greater freedom to Jews. A banner containing the words "Give us our Eleven days", a protest against the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, which was carried by the Tories, is on the tavern floor. In the tavern the two Whig candidates are ingratiating themselves with supporters. One candidate is kissing an ugly pregnant woman; the other is listening to a drunken bore. At the other end of the table the Mayor is collapsing from over indulgence in oysters, while the Election Agent is knocked out by a brick thrown through the window by the Tory mob. Other supporters throw furniture at the Tories. The composition of the scene parodies traditional images of the Last Supper and other Biblical feasts. Canvassing for Votes depicts Tory and Whig agents, both attempting to bribe an innkeeper to vote for them. The crowd outside the tavern is visible in the background. In a reference to the anti-Semitism of the crowd behind, a Jewish peddler is being employed by another agent who is offering jewels and ribbons to the wives of voters. On the margins of the composition a soldier (left) and two old sailors (right) represent uncorrupted patriotism. The soldier peeps out from behind a now-impotently decorative figurehead depicting the British lion devouring the French fleur-de-lis. A woman sits on it looking at her bribes. The sailors on the right are re-enacting a naval victory using pieces of broken clay pipe. The Polling Voters are shown declaring their support for the Whigs (orange) or Tories (blue). Agents from both sides are using unscrupulous tactics to increase their votes or challenge opposing voters. A Whig voter with a hook instead of his amputated hand is being challenged because he is placing his hook, rather than his hand, as legally prescribed, on the book. Meanwhile, the Tories are bringing a mentally disabled man to vote. A dying man is being carried in behind him. In the background a woman in a carriage with a broken axle stands for Britannia. Her coachmen are gambling, ignoring the fact that the carriage is broken. Chairing the Member one of the victorious Tory candidates is being carried through the streets on a chair in a traditional ceremony. He is about to tumble down because one of his carriers has just been accidentally hit on the head by a flail carried by a Tory-supporting rural labourer who is attempting to fight off a Whig supporter (an old sailor with a bear). A group of frightened pigs run across the scene in a reference to the story of the Gadarene swine. The Whig leaders watch from a nearb. N° de ref. del artículo HogarthSet

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