Cornwall, An Overlooker
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Plate: 7 1/16 × 9 13/16 in. (18 × 24.9 cm) Sheet: 7 15/16 × 11 5/16 in. (20.1 × 28.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.1675
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Rowlandson’s *Cornwall, An Overlooker* (1812) is a delightful hand-colored etching that captures the artist’s signature wit and keen eye for British social life. A masteraturist of the Georgian era, Rowlandson (6–1827) audiences with satirical prints poking fun at everyday scenes, often infused with humor and exaggeration. Here, the title suggests a vantage point over Cornwall’s rugged landscapes, featuring houses, men, and women in a lively tableau that likely satirizes rural leisure or voyeurism amid the picturesque countryside. Created during the Regency period amid the Napoleonic W...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...