A Harlot's Progress: Plate 6

Date1822

Designed and engraved by William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)

MediumEtching with line engraving

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1972-409,8

DescriptionLower margin reads: "Plate 6./ W. Hogarth inv.t Pinx.t et sculp.t"
Label TextA Harlot's Progress is a six-part series by William Hogarth was the first of his popular "modern moral subjects" which depicted current social issues and topics of great interest through visual narratives. A Harlot's Progress tells the story of Moll Hackabout, a young woman who is coerced or willingly enters into an ill-fated life of prostitution. The sixth and final scene depicts Moll's funeral. Her coffin plate reads: "M. Hackabout Died Sep.r (?) 1731 Aged 23." Her child sits at the foot of her coffin, wearing mourning clothing - the scarf around his hat is known as a weeper. At his feet is a plate of rosemary, which was handed out at funerals in the period signifying remembrance, but it was also thought to ward off disease. The parson, apparently drunk, spills his wine. Most of the spectators either express disinterest or false grief, having come to the funeral to partake in drink and to receive mourning rings or to try on Moll's clothes.

Though printed from Hogarth's original copperplate (with some strengthening), this print is from the James Heath edition, published after 1822. Hogarth's copperplates were re-used after his death by his widow, Jane until her death in 1789. They were sold to the print publisher John Boydell who published them until his death in 1818. In 1822, James Heath was in possession of the plates and published at least four bound editions of the plates. For more, see Ronald Paulson, Hogarth's Graphic Works, Third Revised Edition (London: Print Room, 1989), pp. 20-21.