William Hogarth

Gin Lane

1751

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1730

Free entry
Artist
William Hogarth 1697–1764
Medium
Etching and engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 357 x 305 mm
support: 615 x 454 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Transferred from the reference collection 1973
Reference
T01799

Catalogue entry

T01799 Gin Lane 1751

Etching and engraving 357×305 (14 1/4×12) on paper 621×470 (24 1/4×18 3/8); plate-mark 387×326 (15 3/8×12 3/8)
Writing-engraving ‘GIN LANE|Design'd by W. Hogarth|Publish'd according to Act of Parliam! Feb.1.1751.’ and a twelve-line verse caption
Transferred from the reference collection 1973

PROVENANCE Unknown
LITERATURE Oppé 1948, p.48; Paulson 1970, I, pp.209–11, II, pls.199, 200

Hogarth's illustration of the evils of gin-drinking was published as a pair with ‘Beer Street’, as part of a campaign against the uncontrolled production and sale of cheap gin. It culminated in the Gin Act of 1751, through which the number of gin shops was greatly reduced. The original copperplates for both prints are now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library (Oppé 1948, pl.74). Another drawing for ‘Gin Lane’, dubiously attributed to Hogarth, is in the Huntington Art Gallery, Huth Collection. No.III is, according to Paulson, the fourth state of the engraving.

Published in:
Elizabeth Einberg and Judy Egerton, The Age of Hogarth: British Painters Born 1675-1709, Tate Gallery Collections, II, London 1988

Modern moral subject

Film and audio

MixTate: Lixo on William Hogarth

For the tenth mix in our series, London-based producer Lixo takes inspiration from William Hogarth’s Gin Lane 1751

Features

Henry Wallis Detail The Room in Which Shakespeare Was Born 1853

MicroTate 14

Heimo Zobernig , Tim Lee , David Shrigley and Kay Rosen

Heimo Zobernig, Tim Lee, David Shrigley and Kay Rosen on Tate Collection works Tate Etc. issue 14
William Hogarth Beer Street 1751

The grandfather of satire: William Hogarth

Martin Rowson

William Hogarth was one of the founders of a satire that led all the way to the modern comic book ...

Explore

You might like

prints after William Hogarth, ‘Four Prints of an Election, plate 2: Canvassing for Votes, engraved by Charles Grignion’ 1757, published 1758

Prints after William Hogarth Four Prints of an Election, plate 2: Canvassing for Votes, engraved by Charles Grignion

1757, published 1758
View by appointment T01796
William Hogarth, François Antoine Aveline, ‘Four Prints of an Election, plate 4: Chairing the Members’ 1758

William Hogarth, François Antoine Aveline Four Prints of an Election, plate 4: Chairing the Members

1758
View by appointment T01797
William Hogarth, Luke Sullivan, ‘The March to Finchley’ 1750–61

William Hogarth, Luke Sullivan The March to Finchley

1750–61
View by appointment T01802
William Hogarth, ‘A Rake’s Progress (plate 8)’ 1735–63

William Hogarth A Rake’s Progress (plate 8)

1735–63
View by appointment T01794
William Hogarth, Charles Mosley, ‘O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)’ 1749

William Hogarth, Charles Mosley O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)

1749
View by appointment T03918
William Hogarth, ‘A Rake’s Progress (plate 4)’ 1735

William Hogarth A Rake’s Progress (plate 4)

1735
View by appointment T01791
William Hogarth, ‘Paul before Felix’ 1752–62

William Hogarth Paul before Felix

1752–62
View by appointment T01805
William Hogarth, ‘The Enraged Musician’ 1741

William Hogarth The Enraged Musician

1741
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T01800
William Hogarth, ‘A Rake’s Progress (plate 5)’ 1735

William Hogarth A Rake’s Progress (plate 5)

1735
View by appointment T01792
William Hogarth, ‘A Rake’s Progress (plate 7)’ 1735

William Hogarth A Rake’s Progress (plate 7)

1735
View by appointment T01793
William Hogarth, ‘A Rake’s Progress (plate 3)’ 1735

William Hogarth A Rake’s Progress (plate 3)

1735
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T01790
William Hogarth, Luke Sullivan, ‘Moses Brought to Pharoah’s Daughter’ 1752–62

William Hogarth, Luke Sullivan Moses Brought to Pharoah’s Daughter

1752–62
View by appointment T01798

Prints after William Hogarth Henry the Eighth and Ann Boleyn, engraver unknown

date not known
T01803
William Hogarth, ‘The Staymaker (? The Happy Marriage V: The Fitting of the Ball Gown)’ c.1745

William Hogarth The Staymaker (? The Happy Marriage V: The Fitting of the Ball Gown)

c.1745
N05359
William Hogarth, ‘The Dance (The Happy Marriage ?VI: The Country Dance)’ c.1745

William Hogarth The Dance (The Happy Marriage ?VI: The Country Dance)

c.1745
T03613