Unused subscription ticket for William Hogarth’s prints ‘Moses brought to Pharaoh’s Daughter’ and ‘St Paul before Felix’. Hogarth’s ‘Boys Peeping at Nature’ is a pastiche of a “life class”, and shows three putti painting, drawing and etching the likeness of a statue of the many-breasted Diana of Ephesus. The image was first used to record subscriptions for Hogarth’s series ‘A Harlot’s Progress’ in 1731, then for ‘The Four Times of the Day’ and ‘Strolling Actresses’. In the earlier iterations, the putti in the center of the image is sneaking a peek up Diana’s dress. This fourth state of ticket was reprinted on wove paper in 1822.

The ticket reads: “Receiv’d […] of […] 5 Shillings being the first Payment for two large Prints one representing Moses brought to Pharoah’s Daughter, The other St. Paul before Felix. wch. I Promise to Deliver when finish’d, on Receiving 5 Shillings more./N.B. They will be Seven and Six Pence each Print, after the time of subscribing”.

William Hogarth (1697-1764), the celebrated satirical artist and printmaker, and a number of series of engravings on moral subjects, including, most famously, ‘The Harlot’s Progress’ (1732), and ‘The Rake’s Progress’ (1735).