‘Taking an Emetic’, 1800

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching, entitled ‘TAKING an EMETIC.’, designed by Isaac Cruikshank, etched by anon, and published by Samuel William Fores in 1800.

From the mid-1700s to mid-1800s, the effects of medication were an important subject of satire. ‘Taking an Emetic’ shows that often to the patient, as depicted through the eyes of the caricaturist, the cure, in the form of a prescribed medication, was often considered worse than the condition it was intended to treat.

An emetic is a medicine taken to induce vomiting, to clear out the stomach. ‘TAKING an EMETIC.’ depicts an elderly woman standing vomiting into a bucket set on a stool in the corner of a kitchen in front of a fireplace. She wears a cap, stays, and petticoat.

A kettle boils furiously on the fire to her right and spews forth a cloud of steam. Her cat arches and mewls as it retches. Teacups and bowls in Oriental-style are arranged on the mantelpiece and on a small round table.