1790s Antique Engraving, George Morland, Guinea Pigs, framed art

An antique late-18th-century colour stipple engraving and etching, Guinea Pigs, engraved by Thomas Gaugain after the celebrated English painter George Morland and first published in London in 1789. The charming domestic scene depicts a kneeling father introducing guinea pigs to a mother and two young children outside a rustic cottage, combining Morland’s characteristic interest in rural family life with the soft tonal modelling for which colour stipple engraving became renowned. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds an example of this same print. This example is attractively displayed in a decorative gilt frame with dark surround.

70cm x 55cm frame

49cm x 39cm artwork 

Artist biography: George Morland (1763–1804) was one of the most popular English genre painters of the late eighteenth century, particularly admired for sympathetic and often highly atmospheric depictions of rural life. His compositions were especially sought after by contemporary print publishers, and engravings after his paintings helped spread his reputation throughout Britain and Europe. Today his paintings are represented in major collections including Tate and the National Gallery of Art.