Dotage
April 20, 1790
Medium
Colored stippled etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 13/16 × 8 3/8 in. (27.4 × 21.3 cm) Plate: 9 3/16 × 8 5/16 in. (23.3 × 21.1 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
59.533.356
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created by British artist Thomas Rowlandson in collaboration with T. Smith, *Dotage* is a colored stippled etching and aquatint dated April 20, 1790. Rowlandson was renowned for his lively caricatures that captured the quirks and follies of Georgian society. The medium combines etching for fine lines with aquatint and stippling to produce soft tonal effects and delicate color, allowing prints like this to be widely distributed and enjoyed by a broad audience. The title *Dotage* hints at themes of aging and human folly, a favorite subject for Rowlandson’s satirical eye. In an era when caricatu...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|T. Smith · 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...