ANON (Eighteenth-Century) – ‘Le Triomphe de la Coquetterie’.

The extraordinary drawing is a rare example of a finished, full-scale design for a print (See MET 60.625.1 for an impression). It is a satire on the shallowness of fashionable society and on the 1770s/80s vogue for towering wigs and ludicrously over-decorated bonnets. Two women joust for the prize bonnet at the centre of the composition. The victor stands to the right, her opponent about to topple into the water where two previous competitors are being rescued. A fashionable crowd watches on while a band plays. There has been some debate as to whether this was made by a British artist, perhaps working for a French engraver. However, our feeling is that it is not British.