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DS1986-356
A Rake's Progress, Plate 1: Taking Possession of His Father's Effects
DS1986-356

A Rake's Progress, Plate 1: Taking Possession of His Father's Effects

Date1735
Publisher Thomas Bakewell (1716 - ca. 1760)
After work by William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)
OriginEngland, London
MediumEtching and line engraving on laid paper
DimensionsOverall: 11 × 12 5/16in. (27.9 × 31.3cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1986-21,A
DescriptionThe upper margin reads: "TAKING POSSESSION OF HIS FATHER'S EFFECTS."
The lower margin reads: "Publsiherd with the consent of M.r William Hogarth by Tho. Bakewell according to Act of Parliament July 1735/ E'er in the Grave the Miser's Corps is Cold,/ The joyful Heir sets free th' imprison'd Gold,/ And meaning now to shine in higher Life,/ Discards the pregnant Lass design'd his Wife,/ In vain she weeps, her Mother raves in vain,/ The Ring & Letters prove his Falshood plain,/ Whilst anxious thus y.e promis'd Match he breaks,/ And Stitch the Measure for his Mourning takes,/ The rougish Lawyer (some I doubt are such)/ Steals half the Tresure which his Fingers touch/ The Miser starves his Cat, his Maid, Himself,/ That Rogues & Spendthrifts may divide hisself./ Printed and Sold by Tho.s Bakewell Printseller in Fleetstreet London - "
Label TextThis is the first scene of one of William Hogarth's most popular "Modern Moral Subjects”: " A Rake's Progress." This print was published as an authorized copy by Thomas Bakewel with Hogarth's authorization in 1735. With the popularity of ‘A Harlot's Progress,' Hogarth commenced selling subscriptions in late 1733, but the prints were not completed until June 1735. Part of this delay was the passage of the Engraver's Act, which was designed to prevent pirating of engraver's works. Hogarth waited until the act took effect on June 25th, 1735 - the date engraved on the prints - to publish the series. Despite his careful planning, pirated copies appeared on the market in early June apparently based on Hogarth's original paintings for the set, now in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum. Hogarth's prints were expensive and published on subscription only, therefore to make a profit on the lower end of the market and combat the piracies, he authorized print seller Bakewell to publish smaller and cheaper versions of the series, with an imprint proving they were authorized copies. (see See 1967-566,1 by Hogarth and 2014-223, 1 by Henry Parker).In plate one, the image is reduced and reversed from the original print by Hogarth.

In this first scene, the Rake, Thomas Rakewell, has inherited a fortune after the death of his miserly father. Hogarth hints at the senior Rakewell's penny-pinching habits: the stub of a candle, a starved cat, an empty fireplace, cracked crockery, and a mutilated Bible, the cover of which has been cut apart to make the sole of a shoe. Young Rakewell wastes no time spending his newly acquired wealth. As the room is fitted out in black crepe by an upholsterer for mourning, Tom is fit by a tailor for a new set of clothes. He launches into his emulation of aristocratic rakes by rejecting and paying off his pregnant lover, Sarah Young, whom he had promised to marry, in hopes of wealthier prospects. The jilted pregnant woman holds a wedding band and her angry mother rails against the young man, carrying letters of his broken promises in her apron.