Taking Physick

This is one of five related prints based on sketches by Gillray's friend and amateur caricaturist, the Reverend John Sneyd. They include:

• Taking Physick (February 6, 1800)
• Gentle Emetic (January 28, 1804)
• Brisk-Cathartic (January 28, 1804)
• Breathing a Vein (January 28, 1804)
• Charming Well Again (January 28, 1804)

Although Taking Physick was published in 1800 about four years before the later prints, it is likely that both Sneyd and Gillray thought of them as a set and had an order in mind. The same figure with his red night-cap, blue breeches, and red slippers appears in all five of the prints. The same doctor attends the long-suffering patient. And the entire set of five can be seen in another Sneyd-inspired print, Very Slippy Weather (February 10, 1808) where they appear (in the order that I have listed) as the top set of panes in Hannah Humphrey's print shop window.

In Very Slippy Weather, we can even see how the pyramidal design of Brisk Cathartic makes it a perfect center piece for the set balanced by the two-figure designs of Gentle Emetic and Breathing a Vein on either side. Whether this was part of Sneyd's orginal design or Gillray's addition, it attests to the care taken in producing the set.

As I argue in my essay, "Four Modes of Caricature: Reflections upon a Genre," the "expression of the passions" used to be considered the sole preserve of history painting. But that meant that the only expressions portrayed were heroic or tragic in nature—"'Admiration," "Extasy," "Jealousy," "Fear," "Rage," and "Hope." But with its focus on the distinguishing characteristics of face and figure, caricature was the perfect vehicle for exploring the expression of ALL the passions, including such un-heroic "passions" as boredom, befuddlement, lust, distraction, discomfort, and disappointment. Hogarth was, of course, a master of the expressive feature, and a print like Scholars at a Lecture (1736) is essentially an assemblage of diverse expressions.

The series of prints beginning with Taking Physick is a similar comedy of expression, which anyone who has been on the receiving end of medical treatment can relate to. But in our case, the humor is mixed in some cases with a certain horror at the barbarities of 18th century medical practice.

Taking Physick is a kind of introduction to the series. Our hero is sick; he hasn't taken the trouble to shave, put on his shoes and stockings, or even properly button up his breeches and tuck in his shirt. But it appears that he has been to an apothecary since he has an array of labeled medications on the mantle. Standing before the fire, with cup in one hand and a bottle of medicine in the other, he grimaces in disgust, as he prepares to take another swig.

NEXT: Gentle Emetic

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on Taking Physick.
• Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #483.
• James Sherry, "Four Modes of Caricature: Reflections upon a Genre,"

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