May.

Date1767

Publisher Robert Sayer (1725-1794)

MediumHand-colored mezzotint engraving

DimensionsOH: 14 5/8" x OW: 10 1/2"; Plate H: 13 7/8" x W: 9 7/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1941-241

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "May./ Publish'd according to Act of Parliament Jan.y 2, 1767./ LONDON, Printed for ROB.T SAYER, at N.o 53 in Fleet Street."
Label TextThis print, depicting the month of May, is part of a set of twelve prints representing the months of the year. Themed sets, such as this were popular throughout the eighteenth-century in England and America. The set follows the conventions of the genre: featuring fashionable and seasonally dressed young women engaging in leisure activities that are appropriate for each month. In this print for May, spring is in full bloom. For the month of May, a woman sits outdoors making a wreath of flowers, while two women and a man dance around a maypole -- an activity associated with the first day of May or Mayday.
InscribedUpper right: "93"