Frog Hunting
April 20, 1790
Medium
Etching and aquatint, hand-colored
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 8 1/4 in. × 11 in. (21 × 27.9 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
59.533.2001
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in April 1790, *Frog Hunting* is a hand-colored etching aquatint by the celebrated British caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, published by William Holland. This medium was ideally suited to satirical prints of the period, as the etching process allowed for crisp lines and expressive detail while aquatint added tonal depth, and hand-coloring brought lively vibrancy to each impression. At roughly 8 by 11 inches, the work was sized for easy display in homes or print-shop windows, reaching a broad audience eager for visual commentary. Rowlandson’s lively style, rooted in the Georgian traditi...