The CIty Tonsor

The print is plate 4 from volume I of six volumes of Mary and Matthew Darly's "24 Caricatures by Several Ladies Gentleman Artists &c." This caricature print satirizes a tonsor or barber who holds in one hand a frame with three wigs. One is a large two tailed wig with a third small tail between. The second is a small "Scratch" wig. The third wig is like that worn by macaronies, with a large knot of hair attached to the rear and tied with a large ribbon. The tonsor is dressed in gold breeches and coat, with a green waistcoat. He has two handles of what are probably tools of the trade sticking out of the rear breeches pocket.

The print is plate 4 from volume I of six volumes of Mary and Matthew Darly's "24 Caricatures by Several Ladies Gentleman Artists &c." The husband-and-wife team capitalized on the craze for caricatures, the practice of making a likeness with exaggerated mannerisms or features to create a comic effect, a form that was brought back by aristocratic Britons who visited Italy on the Grand Tour. The Darly’s catered to this audience by publishing a prolific assortment of caricature prints during the 1770s. Many of the Darly's satirized the manners and fashions of the macaroni, a term used to describe a sub-culture of fashionably dressed men during the period, and subsequently, regardless of subject, the Darly's prints were known as "macaroni prints."

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