Volume III of Macaronies. Characters. Caracatures &c. Design'd by the Greatest Personages Artists &c. Graved & Pub.d by MDarly

Date1772

Publisher Matthew Darly (ca. 1720 - 1780)

Publisher Mary Darly (1760 - 1781)

Engraver M. Darly

OriginEngland, London

MediumHand-colored etching with line engraving

DimensionsOverall: 8 9/16 × 5 5/8in. (21.7 × 14.3cm) Other (Plate): 7 1/2 × 5 7/16in. (19.1 × 13.8cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1955-62,51

DescriptionTitle reads: "VOL. III./ OF/ MACARONIES. /CHARACTERS./ CARICATURES./ &c/ DESIGN'D. BY. THE./ GREATEST. PERSONAGES / ARTISTS. &c. GRAVED. &/ PUB.D. BY. MDARLY. 39./ STRAND./ Pub.d accor.g to Act by MDarly Inventor 1772"
Label TextThis is the frontispiece for volume three of a set of satirical prints by husband and wife team Matthew and Mary Darly who made name for themselves by capitalizing on the upper classes craze for caricatures, the practice of making a likeness with exaggerated mannerisms or features to create a comic effect. The Darly’s catered to this audience by publishing a prolific assortment of caricature prints during the 1770s. Their most famous work was their encyclopedic "Caricatures" which included prints of macaroni’s as well as other interesting characters all based on their own drawings and those submitted to them by amateur artists lambasting their friends, artists, and other figures in London life. 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.