‘Punch cures the Gout, the Colic and the ‘Tisick’, 1799

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching, entitled ‘PUNCH cures the Gout, the Colic and the ‘TISICK’, designed and etched by James Gillray, and published by H. Humphrey in 1799.

This is a satire on the medicinal virtues of punch; viewed at the time as a simple form of self-medication. A trio of invalids are shown sitting around a large punch bowl on a small round table. Each holds up a full glass to make a toast and has a speech bubble recommending punch as a cure for their ailment.

A fat gouty man in a nightgown speaks the first part of the title; ‘PUNCH cures the Gout’, a lady holding her stomach speaks the second; ‘the Colic’, and a very thin man says the last; ‘and the ‘TISICK’ (tuberculosis). The traditional rhyme concludes, “And is by all agreed the very best of physic”.