The Harlot's Progress 6
The Harlot's Progress 6
William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)
Date: 1732
Dimensions:
320 x 385 mm
Medium: Engraving
Object number: PT1095
DescriptionPlate VI The Funeral
Etching and Engraving.1732. 32.0 x 38.5 cm. State I
Engraver William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Below plate: Plate 6. Wm. Hogarth invt.pinx.t.et.sculpt.
Paulson 121.
PT1095
In the final scene, Moll has died and this is her wake. Most of the other women in the scene are either prostitutes or madams who have come to the wake to get drunk and gossip.
A note on the coffin lid says that Moll died aged 23 on 2nd September 1731.
The vicar spills his brandy as he puts his hand under the skirt of the woman sitting next to him. The woman hides the action under his hat.
A tray of yew branches are at their feet. Yew was used at wakes of people who died of infectious diseases because it was thought to provide protection.
Only one prostitute shows any concern for Moll. She looks into the coffin and ponders her own future.
Another prostitute steals the undertaker's handkerchief as he pulls a glove up her arm while flirting with her.
A drunken woman "mourns" while brandy from a grinning jug is by her side ready for another swig.
The room in which the wake is being held has an ironic coat of arms on the wall displaying a chevron with three spigots, alluding to the spilling of the brandy by the vicar, the drunkenness of the wake's guests and the death of Moll Hackabout
Moll's poor son plays with his spinning top in front of his mother's coffin, unaware of his mother's death. Here Hogarth comments on the fate of thousands of poor women who were forced into prostitution due to poverty and died of untreatable venereal diseases.
Etching and Engraving.1732. 32.0 x 38.5 cm. State I
Engraver William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Below plate: Plate 6. Wm. Hogarth invt.pinx.t.et.sculpt.
Paulson 121.
PT1095
In the final scene, Moll has died and this is her wake. Most of the other women in the scene are either prostitutes or madams who have come to the wake to get drunk and gossip.
A note on the coffin lid says that Moll died aged 23 on 2nd September 1731.
The vicar spills his brandy as he puts his hand under the skirt of the woman sitting next to him. The woman hides the action under his hat.
A tray of yew branches are at their feet. Yew was used at wakes of people who died of infectious diseases because it was thought to provide protection.
Only one prostitute shows any concern for Moll. She looks into the coffin and ponders her own future.
Another prostitute steals the undertaker's handkerchief as he pulls a glove up her arm while flirting with her.
A drunken woman "mourns" while brandy from a grinning jug is by her side ready for another swig.
The room in which the wake is being held has an ironic coat of arms on the wall displaying a chevron with three spigots, alluding to the spilling of the brandy by the vicar, the drunkenness of the wake's guests and the death of Moll Hackabout
Moll's poor son plays with his spinning top in front of his mother's coffin, unaware of his mother's death. Here Hogarth comments on the fate of thousands of poor women who were forced into prostitution due to poverty and died of untreatable venereal diseases.