A Macaroni
Date1771
After work by
Edward Topham
(1751 - 1820)
Publisher
Matthew Darly
(ca. 1720 - 1780)
Publisher
Mary Darly
(1760 - 1781)
Engraver
M. Darly
OriginEngland, London
MediumHand-colored etching with line engraving
DimensionsOverall: 8 1/2 × 5 1/2in. (21.6 × 14cm)
Overall (Plate): 6 × 4 1/4in. (15.2 × 10.8cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1955-62,4
DescriptionUpper right corner: "3"Lower right corner of figure: "E.T. inv.t"
Lower margin reads: "A MACARONI./ A fribbling, idle, prating Tribe, Ye are/ FIt only for yourselves! --- herd then together./ Pub.d as the act directs May 4th 1771 by MDarly (39) Strand."
Label TextThis print depicts a caricature of a macaroni, a term used to refer to outlandishly dressed men during the 1760s and 1780s, though the meaning or the term varied to encompass behavior, attitudes, and fashion. Engraved beneath is a verse that pokes fun of the macaroni: "A fribbling, idle, prating Tribe Ye are/ Fit only for Yourselves! --- herd then together." He wears clothing and accessories that were used to signify macaronis: a short coat, tight sleeves, a tiny cocked hat, tight-fitting breeches, boots with spurs, and large clubbed hair. He carries a riding-whip and is shown playing with a spaniel dog which is leaping up towards him.
The print is plate 3 from volume I of six volumes of Mary and Matthew Darly's "24 Caricatures by Several Ladies Gentleman Artists &c." The husband-and-wife team capitalized on the craze for caricatures, the practice of making a likeness with exaggerated mannerisms or features to create a comic effect, a form that was brought back by aristocratic Britons who visited Italy on the Grand Tour. The Darly’s catered to this audience by publishing a prolific assortment of caricature prints during the 1770s. Many of the Darly's satirized the manners and fashions of the macaroni, a term used to describe a sub-culture of fashionably dressed men during the period, and subsequently, regardless of subject, the Darly's prints were known as "macaroni prints."
Their most famous work was their encyclopedic "Caricatures" which included prints of macaroni’s as well as other interesting characters, such as macaronis, all based on their own drawings and those submitted to them by amateur artists lambasting their friends, artists, and other figures in London life. This print is attributed to military officer and amateur artist Edward Topham. The front page of Volume I describes them as “…a Series of Drol[l] Prints consisting of Heads, Figures, Conversations and Satires upon the follies of the Age…” These prints were published in groups of 24, in six volumes that were published between 1771 and 1773. Colonial Williamsburg owns volumes 1-3.
