The Macaroni Print Shop shows the entrance to the print shop of Matthew and Mary Darly at 39 Strand (the Darly name is partially visible on the door). In the 50s and 60's, Matthew Darly had published mostly political prints. But seizing upon the growing popularity of Italian portrait caricature among the young noblemen returning from the Grand Tour, the Darlys virtually abandoned political prints in favor of "macaroni prints." It was a very shrewd move. For not only did the Darlys publish caricatures by profesional artists, they taught the art of caricature to amateurs and then solicited and etched the results for publication. This practice not only encouraged more amateurs to try their hands at caricature, but also created a ready-made market for their prints among the would-be artists and their friends. The result was that their print shop window soon became a pictorial who's who of the foppish, fashionable, and notorious.
Edward Topham was a soldier, some time journalist and editor of what would now be called a tabloid, The World, and a minor caricaturist whose drawings were etched and published by the Darlys. It is likely that Topham provided the basic idea of the print as well as the foreground portraits. As with most of the macaroni prints, the figures are shown in the standard caricature profile format with very little sense of depth. The shop front itself was almost certainly finished by the Darlys themselves displaying a much greater artistry and grasp of technique. The prints in the window are, in fact, all recognizable Darly publications.