Costume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of Mim

Costume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of Mim

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Four plates on one sheet. At upper left, "How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig," a man holds a gun and a damaged wig, while his fellow sportsmen, who have tricked him into thinking it was a hare, look on. At upper right, "The Maid of Mim," two Londoners in riding clothes stare at an old barmaid who enters the room with a jug of ale. At lower left, "A back front View of Miss Dickinson's New Dress," a woman wears an elaborate dress over a petticoat. At lower right, "The Morning Dress of a Lady and Gentleman of Hogs Norton," a woman talks to a yokel under a tree.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Costume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of MimCostume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of MimCostume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of MimCostume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of MimCostume of Hogs Norton, How a Man May Shoot His Own Wig, and The Maid of Mim

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.