Present state of the plate—The word Character is effaced, and the king's arms discarded, and its place supplied by eight caricatured heads, on which the artist worked the day before he died. Below the inscription is inserted—
"The unfinished group of heads in the upper part of this print was added by the author in October 1764, and was intended as a further illustration of what is here said concerning character, caricatura, and outré. He worked upon it the day before his death, which happened the 26th of that month."
The mistakes which Hogarth's friends frequently made in the meaning of the words character, caricatura, etc., seem to have dwelt much on his mind. In one of his MSS. he has given the following thoughts on the subject:—
"I have ever considered the knowledge of character, either high or low, to be the most sublime part of the art of painting or sculpture, and caricatura as the lowest—indeed, as much so as the wild attempts of children when they first try to draw: yet so it is, that the two words, from being similar in sound, are often confounded. When I was once at the house of a foreign face-painter, and looking over a legion of his portraits, Monsieur, with a low bow, told me that he infinitely admired my caricatures! I returned his congé, and assured him that I equally admired his.
"I have often thought that much of this confusion might be done away, by recurring to the three branches of the drama, and considering the difference between comedy, tragedy, and farce. Dramatic dialogue, which represents nature as it really is, though neither in the most elevated nor yet the most familiar style, may fairly be denominated comedy: for every incident introduced might have thus happened; every syllable have been thus spoken, and so acted in common life. Tragedy is made up of more extraordinary events. The language is in a degree inflated, and the action and emphasis heightened. The performer swells his voice, and assumes a consequence in his gait; even his habit is full and ample, to keep it on a par with his deportment. Every feature of his character is so much above common nature, that were people off the stage to act, speak, and dress in a similar style, they would be thought fit for Bedlam. Yet with all this, if the player does not o'erstep the proper bounds, and, by attempting too much, become swoln, it is not caricatura, but elevated character. I will go further, and admit, that with the drama of Shakspeare, and action of Garrick, it may be a nobler species of entertainment than comedy.
"As to farce, where it is exaggerated, and outré, I have no objection to its being called caricature, for such is the proper title."
1759.
1. The Cockpit. "Designed and engraved by Wm. Hogarth," and published November 5, 1759.
2. Frontispiece to Tristram Shandy, vol. 2; engraved by S. Ravenet.
3. Another copy, by the same engraver, in which a hat and cloak are introduced, and the faces of his father and uncle Toby much inferior to the former plate. A print for the 4th volume, representing the christening, was published in 1761. "F. Ravanet, sculp."—for thus is the name here written. A print of the same size was engraved from the same design by J. Ryland. The original drawings are in the possession of Mrs. Nicol.