Cupid turn'd auctioneer, or, Cornelys' sale at Carlisle House / S. Wale del. ; J. Taylor sculp.
[London] : [publisher not identified], Publish'd Decr. 24, 1772.
Illustration to an article with the above title.
Two lines of text below image: Cupid's soft dart the softer sex compels / And here the urching knocks down beaux & belles.
Plate from: Westminster Magazine. London : Printed for W. Goldsmith, v. 1 (1772-3), p. 9.
Library's copy trimmed with loss of plate mark.
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Print shows and auction-room where Cupid on a high rostrum holds up a hammer, pointing with his left hand at the lot for sale, with a tall macaroni standing on a stool in profile to the left, holding a cane, his hat under his arm. Behind the macaroni stands Mercury, who appears to have placed him on the stool. Other lots are on a high shelf behind Cupid's head, against which rests a ladder. Above them are numbered placards: "[Lo]t 1" and "Lot 2" have gone, their places are vacant. "Lot 3" is a fashionably dressed lady; "Lot 4" is a macaroni taking snuff; "Lot 5" is a plainly dressed lady wearing an apron. Standing in front of the auctioneer is a crowd of spectators, fashionably dressed men and women, who are elderly and ugly, a lady with a fan in profile to the right being the most prominent.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850 former owner.