A rake's progress. Plate 4. Arrested for debt.

item details

NameA rake's progress. Plate 4. Arrested for debt.

ProductionWilliam Hogarth; artist; 1735; Greater London
William Hogarth; engraver; 1735; Greater London

Classificationprints, engravings, works on paper

Materialspaper

Materials Summaryengraving

Techniquesengraving

DimensionsImage: 355 (height), 408 (length)

Registration Number1965-0001-1/4-8

Credit lineGift of Sir John Ilott, 1965

Overview

A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732-33, then engraved and published in 1735. Te Papa has the set of eight engravings. The series shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately the notorious Bethlem Hospital, or Bedlam. The original paintings are in Sir John Soane's Museum, London, where they are normally on display. The filmmaker Alan Parker has described the works as an ancestor to the storyboard.

The upshot of Tom’s profligate lifestyle is shown in Scene 4, set in St James’s, Mayfair. Tom is on his way to St James’s Palace to be presented at court to celebrate Queen Caroline's birthday on St David's Day. Unfortunately for him, before his keenly anticipated social glory, he has been stopped by Welsh bailiffs ( their nationality signified by the cockaded leeks on their hats), who are about to arrest him for debt. Understandably he appears unpleasantly surprised and disconcerted - his hat flies off. Tom is saved, however, by the timely intervention of Sarah Young. (In Scene 1 Tom had offered her mother a derisory sum of money to buy off Sarah who was pregnant with his child). Here she offers the head bailiff her hard-earned wages. This demonstrates her generous spirit and enduring, if misplaced, love for him. In comic relief, a man filling a street lantern spills oil on Tom's head. This is a sly reference to how blessings on a person were accompanied by oil poured on the head; in this case, the 'blessing' is the 'saving' of Tom by Sarah, although being a rake, he will not take the moral lesson to heart. In this engraved version, lightning flashes in the sky and a young pickpocket has just emptied Tom's pocket. (The original painting shows the young thief stealing Tom's cane and has no lightning.)

Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art November 2016