Miseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney Coachman

Miseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney Coachman

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A stout and disappointed coachman stands outside a house at night, and holds out his hand for additional coins. At left, a couple stands in their doorway sneering at him, the man with his hand in his pocket.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Miseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney CoachmanMiseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney CoachmanMiseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney CoachmanMiseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney CoachmanMiseries of London, or a Surly Saucy Hackney Coachman

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.