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Direct scan of object
Fire
Direct scan of object

Fire

Date1760
After work by Philippe Mercier (1689 - 1760)
Engraver Richard Houston (1721-1775)
Publisher Robert Sayer (1725-1794)
OriginEngland, London
MediumHand-colored mezzotint
DimensionsOther (Sight): 13 5/8 × 9 3/4in. (34.6 × 24.8cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1952-376,1
DescriptionLower margin reads: "Ph: Mercier pinx.t/ Publish'd according to Act of Parliament October 1st. 1760/ Rich.d Housten fecit./ Here blooming Beauty beams celestial Fire - / And warms the youthful heart with fierce desire. / Happy the Fair whose ev'ry look can charm, / And like the Sun with cheerful Influence warm. / London Printed for Rob.t Sayer opposite Fetter Lane, Fleet Street."
Label TextThis print is part of a set representing the elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth. This print, "Fire”, features a fashionably dressed young woman at a fireplace, blowing the fire with a pair of bellows. Sets of prints depicting young women as allegorical representations of the seasons, months of the year, times of day, and elements were popular in the eighteenth-century. The rest of the set: Air 1952-376,2; Water 1952-376,3; and Earth 1952-376,4.

Verse in lower margin reads:
Here blooming Beauty beams celestial Fire -
And warms the youthful heart with fierce desire.
Happy the Fair whose ev'ry look can charm,
And like the Sun with cheerful Influence warm.