Waltzing!, or, A peep into the Royal Brothel Spring Gardens : dedicated with propriety to the Lord Chamberlain / I.R. Cruikshank fect.

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Robert Cruikshank
1789-1856
Waltzing!, or, A peep into the Royal Brothel Spring Gardens : dedicated with propriety to the Lord Chamberlain / I.R. Cruikshank fect.
[London] : Published by J Sidebotham 96 Strand, [1816?]
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
1986.499
Published: 
[London] : Published by J. Sidebotham 96 Strand, [1816?]
Provenance: 
From the library of Gordon N. Ray.
Notes: 

Date provided by George.

Summary: 

Print shows three couples dancing in a space bordered by a red rope behind which are many spectators. The breasts and shoulders, and sometimes the arms, of the women are bare, their skirts short and edged with transparent lace. A fourth couple stand arm-in-arm on the extreme right, inspecting a lady seated on a bench. A corner of the musicians' gallery is on the left. The men's costume also is caricatured. All wear tail-coats and high collars; one wears very tight and short pantaloons, another loose baggy trousers resembling plus-fours. There is a carpet with a large lyre for centre-piece (or perhaps this represents the designs then chalked on ball-room floors). Above is a gas-chandelier with many jets. On the wall are three pictures. (1) 'Naked, but not ashamed': three women with bare breasts and short petticoats, two wearing hats, and two having a grotesque stoop. (2) Two men raising their hats; one wears short loose trousers, the other tight breeches with top-boots. (3) 'Tobacco Pipe imitations of Female Dress--or Smoking the Fashions of 1816.' The bowls of pipes, reversed, represent two women, walking left to right and meeting two others, all bowing; their contour ridicules the curved back and forward stoop imposed by the fashions of the day.

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