A Bawd on Her Last Legs

Rowlandson employed a layered process: a line etching provides the sketchy outlines, aquatint creates broad tonal washes, and lift‑ground aquatint allows selective colour application. Hand‑applied pigments accentuate particular areas, giving the print its characteristic pale palette and rapid, sketch‑like quality that heightens the comedic effect.

The print emerged during the Georgian period, when Rowlandson, alongside contemporaries such as James Gillray, produced a prolific series of social and political caricatures. Though specific ownership records are scarce, the work has circulated in collections of 18th‑century British prints and is cited in scholarly surveys of Rowlandson’s satirical oeuvre.