Farmer Giles & His Wife. . .

Farmer Giles & His Wife Shewing off their Daughter Betty to their Neighbours, on Her Return From School (1809) is one of four prints by Gillray based on the drawings of an amateur, Thomas Braddyl. A few years earlier, Braddyll had provided two designs for The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver (1803 and 1804) and most recently St. George and the Dragon (1805). In this case, as in several others of Braddyll's work, the drawing has survived in the British Museum collection, so we have an opportunity to compare the design by Braddyll and the print of Farmer Giles to see what Gillray made of what he received.

In general, Gillray has been quite respectful of the original. The print is slightly larger than the drawing 32 x 47 cm versus 28 x 42, so he obviously began by adding the ruled lines on Braddyll's drawing in order to make an accurate transfer. The positions, attitudes, and expressions are all derived from Braddyll: the painful articulation of the young sister as singer, the fatuous delight of Betty's parents on her piano performance, the confidential conversation of the two biddies, and the stiff and self-contained reserve of a potential suitor (?)—all are faithfully reproduced.

But while maintaining the essentials of the original, Gillray has sharpened and improved it in every way. The figures are now less flat and the room has depth and perspective. The square piano has real solidity and the table looks like a table instead of a flat oval. The awkward empty space above the piano has been filled. And the candles on the wall and on the piano are appropriately balanced. The dog with his head hung in embarassment is no longer lost in the carpet, and the relation between the proverb in the sampler, "Evil communications corrupt good manners" and the back-biting gossip who doesn't want her conversation overheard is now obvious.

Gillray's small additions to the design reinforce Braddyll's satiric point that Farmer Giles's pretensions are just that—silly and pretentious. The new picture above the piano shows a young woman so ill equipped in her station in life that she appears to be trying to milk a bull (despite the warnings of the geese and cock). Below the piano the songs of a true opera star, Angelica Catalani, are contrasted with the simple air being played and sung (badly) by Betty and her sister. And the younger son in the family (his hair and features resemble Farmer Giles) who has been enlisted to appear as a footboy, fails miserably in his role, dropping cakes from his basket as he goes.

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on Farmer Giles & His Wife. . .
• Thomas Braddyll, The History of Parliament
• "Blue Bells of Scotland," Musica International
• "Angelica Catalani," Wikipedia
• Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #565

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