Dance of Death, Lawyer and Sailor - Hand-Coloured Cruikshank Etching - 1808

Cut fragment of the English satire "The Dance of Death Modernised" with two of its vignettes: a bespectacled lawyer in wig and gown taken by the hand by Death, and a peg-legged sailor with a cudgel dancing with a second skeleton. Hand-coloured etching, laid down on brown paper.

Both etched captions survive: "The Law is always exempt by the Statutes!" and "Why D—me I'm one of your Apprentices!". The complete print had twenty-four figures in four rows, designed by George Moutard Woodward and etched by Isaac Cruikshank; it was published by William Holland in London in October 1808.

Medium: Hand-coloured etching, laid down on brown paper.
Artist / after: George Moutard Woodward (c. 1760-1809).
Engraver: Isaac Cruikshank (1764-1811).
Date: 1808.
Source: Fragment of "The Dance of Death Modernised", London, William Holland, Cockspur Street, October 1808. British Museum, Satires 11125.
Dimensions: Image 5.4 x 9.3 in (13.8 x 23.5 cm); backing paper 7.5 x 10.4 in (19 x 26.3 cm).
Condition: Fair. A fragment cut from the complete print, with the upper left corner cut diagonally; neither title nor imprint survives. Damp stains across the sheet and a small crease with a tear near the right edge. The period colouring remains bright. Glue stains on the verso of the backing.