English: A gaily dressed young woman wearing a flat hat, ringlets, a handkerchief which displays her breast, and an apron over a quilted petticoat, stands at her shallow tub of oysters, a knife in her right hand, turning to smile towards a fashionably dressed young man (left) who ogles her, his right hand in his breeches pocket, his left resting on a cane. A black page in livery (right), wearing a turban ornamented with feathers and beads, smiles insinuatingly at her, holding out a bowl. A high wall with placards, and large brick houses, probably at Billingsgate, form a background. 3 January 1788
Hand-coloured mezzotint
(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VI, 1938)
'Milton [or Melton] Oysters' was a song in the repertory of the London tea-gardens. It was sung by Mrs. Jordan with great success in her early days. 'Jordan's Elixir of Life', 1789, pp. 5, 38-9. It begins:
"There was a clever likely Lass,
Just come to town from Gloucester;
And she did get her livelihood,
By crying Milton Oysters."
'The Marybone Concert' [n.d.], p. 6.
(Supplementary information)
Dighton's original watercolour for this print from the collection of Mr Jeffrey Rose was sold at Sotheby's, 23 February 1978, lot 60.
For an impression with the date intact, see 2010,7081.3022. Another impression with the same date, 3 January 1788, was with Andrew Edmunds in 2015.
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