Old Maids Morning Visit or Calash Lady's

Date1777

Artist/Maker M. Darly

MediumBlack and white line engraving.

DimensionsOH: 11 1/4" x OW: 18 3/8"; Plate: H: 8 1/8" x W: 12 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1953-117

DescriptionUpper margin reads: "11/ V.2"
Lower margin reads: "THE OLD MAIDS MORNING VISIT OR THE CALASH LADY'S/ Pub.d MDarly 39 Strand Mar:h 11. 1771"
Label TextTwo woman face one another, both wearing the hoods supported with hoops of cane or whalebone known as calashes, from their likeness to the folding hoods of carriages called by the same name. The woman on the left, leans back in an armchair, one foot supported on a stool; her calash is like an almost spherical barrel. Her vis-a-vis sits upright, holding a fan, on a stool with folding legs; her calash is angular, showing its ribs; she wears a very skimpy skirt with a fullness at the back indicating a 'cork rump' &c. On the floor by the fat woman is a large trimmed bonnet, in which is a cat with kittens, one kitten prances at some distance. By the women on the right is a flat ribbon-trimmed hat, across which a dog is walking. No other furniture is visible, except a hanging lamp with one beak, suspended from the wall. On the wall are four framed pictures, two of birds, one of some feline animal, one cut off by the left margin.