Description:

Richard Earlom (British, 1743-1822), after Johan Joseph Zoffany R.A. (British, 1733-1810), "Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match at Lucknow, 1786", hand-colored mezzotint, titled and artist identified lower margin, "Mango Tango Art Gallery, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands" label en verso, sheet 20 in. x 26 3/4 in., framed. Provenance: The Sturm Collection. Note: British printmaker Richard Earlom copied this scene from the famous Johann Zoffany painting now in the Tate collection in London. The painting was made to commemorate the infamous Indian court of Asaf-Ud-Dowlan. The Colonial courts were held in low regard in England at the time, and Zoffany’s painting was regarded as a who’s who of unsavory characters and an example of the excesses of the Indian courts. The cast of characters in the work includes: Colonel Mordant – an illiterate and illegitimate son of Earl of Peterborough; Thomas Patch - an artist who was banned from Rome and London for homosexuality; and Asaf-Ud-Dawlah - portrayed as having an erection and was described at the time as, “… his natural inclinations were for low, ill-born and base minded individuals. The dirtier the conversation the more he enjoyed it.” The game of cockfighting was considered a dishonorable activity in which no gentleman would participate, so appropriate for the scene on several levels. The painting caused quite a stir upon its introduction, and many artist such as Earlom sought to duplicate it. Ref.: Ridge, Terry. “Colonel Mordant’s Cock Match.” Tate Museum. www.tate.org.uk. Accessed July 27, 2017.

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September 9, 2017 10:00 AM CDT
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