Times of the Day: Noon

Times of the Day: Noon

William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)

Date: 1738
Dimensions:
500 x 42.2 mm
Medium: Engraving
Object number: PT1099
DescriptionNoon.
1738. Engraving. 50.0 x 42.2 cm
State 1. Engraver: William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Above plate: Noon. Below plate: Invented, Painted and Engrav'd & Publish'd by Wm. Hogarth March 25, 1738 according to Act of Parliament
Poulson 147
PT11099

Hogarth set the scene of "Noon" in the slums of St Giles near Soho.
The spire of church of St Giles-in -the-Fields can been in the background, the clock on the spire of the church reads 12.30. The lane is Hog Lane, which is now part of Charing Cross Road near Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. During Hogarth's time French Huguenots who had been expelled from France and the low-countries in Holland because of their protestant's beliefs populated the area.

The engraving is divided by a drain that run down the middle of the lane in which the corpse a rotting cat can be seen. Hogarth uses the drain as a visual device to illustrate the contrasts between the buildings and the people on the different sides of the lane.
On one side there is a church and on the other side is a Tavern called "The Good Woman". The sign is illustrated with a picture of a headless woman.

As the congregation is leaving the church, people are entering the Tavern. The landlady of the Tavern is throwing out a leg of mutton from the first floor window while arguing with her husband.
In front of the soberly dressed English congregation a lavishly dressed French Huguenot couple and their son are strutting down the lane having also left the church service. Many Huguenots had prospered in the silk trade during this period and Hogarth has portrayed them in a rather foppish manner.

A sign depicting John the Baptist's head that reads, "Good eating" hangs on the eating-house next to the tavern. Under the sign there is a young servant woman being fondled by an African footman as she holds a pie. As a result some of the liquid spills from the pie onto a platter held by a small boy causing it to break, spilling its contents onto the ground. The boy starts too cry and pulls at his hair while a street urchin takes advantage of the accident to eat what's left of the meal from the floor. Hogarth is said to have witnessed an incident like this while he was having a shave in a barber's shop.

This scene is in contrast to the view on the other side of the lane of that of the expensively dressed married couple and their son who is playing with his coat and walking stick.