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Description
From a suite of eight prints, stitched in a paper wrapper, narrating a family's decline from domestic order to ruin. Cruikshank executed "The Bottle" and its sequel, "The Drunkard's Children," on behalf of the Temperance movement. In these and other works, Cruikshank vilified alcohol as greatly damaging to the physical and mental health of drinkers and causing the demise of working-class families. In 1847 Cruikshank took the pledge of total alcohol abstinence and became an active member of the Temperance movement. [Helmreich, Life in London] Glyphography provided Cruikshank with an inexpensive means for making durable printing plates for mass production of "The Bottle." In this relief process, the artist scratched or incised a design on a metal plate coated with a thick substance, like wax. Additional wax was applied to areas surrounding the incised lines, placing the design in greater relief. The wax-coated plate was then covered with a layer of copper, filling the incised lines and forming a positive mold for printing. [see Patten 1996, 237] Published for the artist by David Bogue, London. Catalogue Raisonne: Reid 5000; Douglas 242; Cohn 194 Inscription: Recto, in plate, "Designed and Etched by George Cruikshank" at l.r.
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