William Hogarth

A Rake's Progress: Plate 4 (The first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall)

William Hogarth's original engraving, A Rake's Progress, Plate 4 depicts the first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall. On his way to White's gaming house (in the background) he has been stopped by a bailiff with an 'Arrest' notice in hand. No doubt his riotous life, depicted in the last scene, has led to this action. Not all, however, is lost as none other than Sarah Young has appeared and offers her hard earned savings as a millner to the bailiff. Above them a careless lamplighter spills some oil, perhaps intimating that the good intentioned Sarah is simply throwing away her money.

It should here be mentioned that Sarah Young represents a direct contrast to Tom Rakewell. Unlike the frivolous aristocrat she stands for the solid middle class values of prudence, hard work and morality. She will appear again.

Such virtues as Sarah Young represents are sadly absent from most of society. To the left another aristocrat, accompanied by his manicured dog, simply watches the scene. Most upsetting, however, are the poor street urchins who are in the process of gambling away what little they possess.

A Rake's Progress was first published by William Hogarth in 1735. Created several years after A Harlot's Progress, it chronicles many of the same vices and follies. But whereas Moll, the heroine of the earlier set, is a victim of society, the young, aristocratic 'hero', of A Rake's Progress, Tom Rakewell, is a victim of himself. In this series, Hogarth brilliantly satirizes the often useless and destructive character of Britain's ruling classes.

A Rake's Progress: Plate 4 (The first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall) was both designed and engraved by William Hogarth. This original engraving is printed upon early nineteenth century wove paper and with large, full margins as published by William Heath in 1822. It is a fine, original example of the satirical art created by the British artist, William Hogarth. A Rake's Progress: Plate 4; Paulson Catalogue #135, Third and Final State (Complete Set of Eight Original Engravings).

A Rake's Progress: Plate 4 (The first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall)

View Complete Set of Eight Original Engravings for A Rake's Progress by William Hogarth.

#4.- A Rake's Progress by William Hogarth (Complete Set of Eight Original Engravings)
	Image	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	Note	-
01.-		Plate 1 'A Rake's Progress' Tom Rakewell's father has just died and he is preparing for the funeral by William Hogarth	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #132, Fourth and Final State.	Sold
02.-		Plate 2 'A Rake's Progress' The young aristocrat, Tom Rakewell has set himself up in fine furnishings by William Hogarth	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #133, Fourth and Final State.	Sold
03.-		Plate 3 'A Rake's Progress' Tom Rakewell has ordered an all night entertainment by William Hogarth.	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, #134, Third and Final State.	Sold
04.-		Plate 4 'A Rake's Progress' The first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall by William Hogarth.	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #135, Third and Final State.	Sold
05.-		Plate 5 'A Rake's Progress' The rake, Tom Rakewell has been saved from debtor's prison by William Hogarth	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #136, Third and Final State.	Sold
06.-		Plate 6 'A Rake's Progress' Tom Rakewell's gambling, second inevitable loss of fortune by William Hogarth	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #137, Third and Final State.	Sold
07.-		Plate 7 'A Rake's Progress' The Rake, Tom Rakewell sits dumbfounded in a debtor's prison by William Hogarth.	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #138, Fourth and Final State.	Sold
08.-		Plate 8 'A Rake's Progress' Tom Rakewell ends up in the Bethlehem Hospital madhouse by William Hogarth.	Original Engraving	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)	Paulson, Catalogue #139, Third and Final State.	Sold

William Hogarth (London, 1697 - 1764)
#	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	-
01.-	An Election Entertainment by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Four Original Engravings	1755 - 1758 (Heath Ed)	Sold
02.-	Analysis of Beauty by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Two Original Engravings (Plate I & II)	1753 (Heath Ed)	Sold
03.-	A Midnight Modern Conversation by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1732 (Heath Ed)	Sold
04.-	A Rake's Progress by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Eight Original Engravings	1735 (Heath Ed)	Sold
05.-	A Chorus of Singers by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1732 (Heath Ed)	Sold
06.-	Battle of the Pictures by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1743 (Heath Ed)	Sold
07.-	Boys Peeping at Nature by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1730 (Heath Ed)	Available
08.-	Characters & Caricaturas by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1743 (Heath Ed)	Sold
09.-	Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1762 (Heath Ed)	Sold
10.-	Four Times of The Day by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Four Original Engravings	1738 (Heath Ed)	Sold
11.-	Four Stages of Cruelty by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Four Original Engravings	1750-1751 (Heath Ed)	Sold
12.-	Frontispiece to Taylor's Perspective by William Woollett & William Hogarth	Original Line Engraving	1761 (Heath Ed)	Sold
13.-	Gin Lane by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1750-1751 (Heath Ed)	Sold
14.-	Illustrations for Samuel Butler's 'Hudibras' by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Twelve Original Engravings	1725 (Heath Ed)	Available
15.-	Industry and Idleness by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Twelve Original Engravings	1747 (Heath Ed)	Sold
16.-	John Wilkes Esquire by William Hogarth	Original Etching	1763 (Heath Ed)	Sold
17.-	Marriage a la Mode by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Six Original Engravings	1745 (Heath Ed)	Sold
18.-	Martin Folkes Esqr. by William Hogarth	Original Etching & Engraving	1742 (Heath Ed)	Available
19.-	Moses Brought to Pharaoh's Daughter by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1752 (Heath Ed)	Available
20.-	Pit Ticket: The Cockpit by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1759 (Heath Ed)	Available
21.-	Satire on False Perspective by Luke Sullivan & William Hogarth	Original Etching & Engraving	1754 (Heath Ed)	Sold
22.-	Scholars at a Lecture by William Hogarth	Original Line Engraving & Etching	1736 (Heath Ed)	Sold
23.-	Shrimps! by Francesco Bartolozzi & William Hogarth	Original Stipple Engraving	1782	Sold
24.-	Simon Lord Lovat by William Hogarth	Original Etching	1746 (Heath Ed)	Sold
25.-	Southwark Fair by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1733 (Heath Ed)	Sold
26.-	Taste in High Life by Samuel Phillips & William Hogarth	Original Stipple Engraving	1808 (John Boydell Ed.)	Sold
27.-	The Company of Undertakers by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1736 (Heath Ed)	Sold
28.-	The Distrest Poet by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1736 (Heath Ed)	Sold
29.-	The Five Orders of Perriwigs by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1761 (Heath Ed)	Sold
30.-	The Invasion: France, Plate I by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Two Original Engravings (England & France)	1756 (Heath Ed)	Sold
31.-	The Invasion: England, Plate II by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Two Original Engravings (England & France)	1756 (Heath Ed)	Sold
32.-	The Laughing Audience by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1733 (Heath Ed)	Sold
33.-	The Politician by John Keyse Sherwin & William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1775 (Heath Ed)	Sold
34.-	The Sleepy Congregation by William Hogarth	Original Engraving & Etching	1736 (Heath Ed)	Sold
35.-	The Times by William Hogarth	Complete Set of Two Original Engravings (Plate I & II)	1762 (Heath Ed)	Sold
36.-	Time Smoking a Picture by William Hogarth	Original Engraving	1761 (Heath Ed)	Sold
37.-	William Hogarth Painting of the Comic Muse by William Hogarth	Original Engraving	1764 (Heath Ed)	Sold

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Title:	A Rake's Progress, Plate 4: The first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall (Complete Set of Eight Original Engravings)
Artist:	Hogarth, William (London, 1697 - 1764)
Date:	1735 (Heath Edition 1822)
Medium:	Original Engraving
Publisher:	William Heath, London
Note:	William Hogarth: The name of William Hogarth requires little in the way of an introduction. He is the unquestioned father of England's rich tradition of satire and remains one of the most original and lively minds in the entire history of British art. Famous for his paintings, Hogarth's engravings are even more paramount: the imagery from The Harlot's Progress, Marriage a la Mode, The Four Stages of Cruelty, The Four Times of the Day and a host of others are crucial to an understanding of eighteenth century art and culture. Yet Hogarth's art stretched beyond his time and his masterful engravings are as relevant to our society as they were to his.
	Training first as an engraver, Hogarth became an independent illustrator as early as 1720. In his spare time he studied painting techniques, notably under Sir James Thornhill. By 1730 he established himself as a portrait painter. Yet at the same time Hogarth began creating sets of anecdotal pictures which brilliantly satirized society and its activities. The first such set, A Harlot's Progress (1732), gained for Hogarth a strong and lasting national reputation. During the following decades he both painted and engraved individual works and sets of images which forged the cornerstone for English satirical art. Such great masters as Rowlandson, Gillray, Heath and Cruikshank followed in Hogarth's footsteps.
	A Rake's Progress, Plate 4: The first signs of Tom Rakewell's downfall occur in this scene. On his way to White's gaming house (in the background) he has been stopped by a bailiff with an 'Arrest' notice in hand. No doubt his riotous life, depicted in the last scene, has led to this action. Not all, however, is lost as none other than Sarah Young has appeared and offers her hard earned savings as a millner to the bailiff. Above them a careless lamplighter spills some oil, perhaps intimating that the good intentioned Sarah is simply throwing away her money.
Raisonne:	Ronald Paulson, Hogarth's Graphic Works, London, Yale University Press, 1965.
	Plate 4; Paulson #135, Third and Final State.
Reference:	Sean Shesgreen, Engravings by Hogarth, New York, Dover Press,1973, plate 31.
Source:	Heath Edition, London (A Rake's Progress, Set of eight)
Size:	14 X 16 3/8 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Unmatted
Condition:	Printed upon early nineteenth century wove paper and with large, full margins as published by William Heath in 1822. One should take note that Heath was the last printer to print directly from Hogarth's original engraved plates. All 'Hogarth' prints appearing after this date are merely copies of these original graphic works of art.
	These original impressions from the complete set of A Rake's Progress contain very faint foxing and smudging along the outer margins (well away from the actual engravings. The back of plate 4 has acid free tape re-enforcing a fragile upper plate mark, else each is a finely printed impression and in excellent condition throughout. A Rake's Progress represents a superb, original example of the famous engraved art of William Hogarth.
Price:	Sold - The price is no longer available.
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