Thomas Rowlandson

The Tables Turned

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Thomas Rowlandson 1756–1827
Medium: Graphite, ink and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 219 × 275 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1996
Reference: T08546

Display caption

This is one of a pair of caricatures showing contrasting marriages. This scene was engraved as The Tables Turned. Miseries of Wedlock. A couple fight over the dinner table, spilling
both their meal and the baby onto
the floor. The other scene, called The Comforts of Matrimony. A Good Toast shows a scene of domestic bliss.

The prints based on these drawings
were published in 1809. Rowlandson
had little personal experience of family life. He married in 1800, but did not
have children.

Gallery label, September 2004

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