Chairing the Members, Plate IV: Four Prints of an Election

Art Historical Context

William Hogarth’s *Chairing the Members* (1758) concludes his series *Four Prints of an Election*, a sharp satire on the corruption and chaos of eighteenth-century British politics. Created as an etching and engraving after Hogarth’s design—here executed in its third state by engraver François Antoine Aveline—the print captures the raucous moment when victorious candidates are paraded through the streets. A boisterous crowd surges around the chairs, pigs dart underfoot, and firearms add to the sense of disorder, vividly illustrating the breakdown of civic order once votes have been bought and tallied. Hogarth, renowned for his moral narratives, used the accessible medium of print to reach a broad audience beyond the elite. The large sheet (roughly 17 by 22 inches) allowed for dense, anecdotal detail that rewards close looking, turning a single image into a lively commentary on bribery, violence, and public spectacle. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund in 1932, the work remains a vivid document of Georgian electoral culture and Hogarth’s enduring gift for social observation.

About the Artist

William Hogarth|François Antoine Aveline · 1697–1764

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...