‘Mixing A Recipe For Corns’, 1822

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching, entitled ‘MIXING A RECIPE FOR CORNS__’, drawn by Captain Frederick Marryat, etched by George Cruikshank, and published by G. Humphrey in 1822. ‘MIXING A RECIPE FOR CORNS__’ is a satire on the trials of self- medication first published by Humphrey as the heading of a broadside “Recipe For Corns.” A sharp-faced old maid in spectacles, cap and petticoats sits in her bedroom, a scene of untidy and cluttered mayhem, by a fireplace lined with Delft tiles, as cats, lap-dogs, mice and parrot fight around her. Determinedly reading a clearly complicated recipe and mixing a pot on the roaring fire which spills over as she does so. By her chair is a table covered with medicine bottles, a mortar and pestle, packets, and raw ingredients, which also clutter the floor. On the far right is a curtained bed. On the wall in the background is a case containing a glum, be-ribboned stuffed cat, and a picture of Suzanna suffering the advances of Elders. The mantlepiece lintle is decorated with a burles