‘Reduction’, 1827

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching, entitled ‘REDUCTION.’, designed and etched by Henry Heath, and published by William Cole in 1827.

A satire on one of the many health ‘cures’, fashionable during the early 1800s. In the centre of the scene the operator of a “STOMACH PUMP” stands on a stool to energetically pump out a fat man seated in a chair; the contents pour into a tub, near two tiny reduced animals.

On the left, several healthy but fat patients await their turn. On the right, a very thin, but unhappy man, holds up a mirror to look at his thin but saggy face. His flaccid belly hangs over his trousers.

Hanging on the wall are two stomach pumps and several before and after pictures showing the weight-loss achieved by the operator’s previous patients; including a picture of a very large dog and a very thin dog, captioned: “specimen of the Reduction of a Dog Performed by the Stomach-Pump in 3 Operations.”