2 Antique Engraving Prints W/Mats Industry and Idleness and Gate of Calais

Description

The Gate of Calais or O, the Roast Beef of Old England is a 1748 painting by William Hogarth, reproduced … more The Gate of Calais or O, the Roast Beef of Old England is a 1748 painting by William Hogarth, reproduced as a print from an engraving the next year. Hogarth produced the painting directly after his return from France, where he had been arrested as a spy while sketching in Calais. The scene depicts a side of beef being transported from the harbour to an English tavern in the port, while a group of undernourished, ragged French soldiers and a fat friar look on hungrily. Hogarth painted himself in the left corner with a "soldier's hand upon my shoulder."

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Industry and Idleness is the title of a series of 12 plot-linked engravings created by the English artist William Hogarth in 1747, intending to illustrate to working children the possible rewards of hard work and diligent application and the sure disasters attending a lack of both.[1] Unlike his earlier works, such as A Harlot's Progress (1731) and Marriage à-la-mode (1743), which were painted first and subsequently converted to engravings, Industry and Idleness was created solely as a set of engravings. Each of the prints was sold for one shilling each so 12 shillings for the entire set,[1] which is equivalent to £120 in 2023.[2] It may be assumed that these prints were aimed for a wider and less wealthy market than his earlier works. The originals currently reside at the British Museum.

Plate 2 — The Industrious 'Prentice performing the Duty of a Christian

Goodchild in church, singing hymns
Plate two occurs at some point on a Sunday, when their master has given them part (or all) of the day to attend church service. Francis Goodchild is shown taking good advantage of this, attending St. Martin-in-the-Fields,[6] standing in a pew with his master's daughter, singing out of a hymnal. Their piety is contrasted with the sleeping man in the pew and the vain woman at the far right, and complements the quiet devotion of the old pewopener, the woman who has the keys to the pew, who is facing away from the service to spot new arrivals.[7]
Significantly, since this is the first in the series of images of Francis' fortune, his career is literally shown to start with his devotion.
Note the tricorns hanging everywhere. less