Courtship and Marriage

Gently poking fun at the difference between a pre-married and married state this engraving was designed to be viewed in two ways. One way up saying ‘Courtship’ the couple smirk at each other in profile but when it is the marriage side they frown at each other. The verse below ‘Courtship’ reads ‘When two Fond Fools together meet/Each look gives Joy, each Kiss so sweet/ When Wed, how cold and cross they’ll be/Turn upside down and then you’ll see'. The Marriage verse then reads, ‘That Form once o’er with Angry Brow/ The Married Pair both Peevish grow, All night and day they scold and growl…Love ends, When once you’re Man and Wife’.

It is by an unknown artist and undated so a date of around 1750 is estimated. It was reproduced in 1789 in London in a coloured version and was evidently popular, tapping into the age-old satirical humour of the changes which ensue after marriage.