Artwork Page for The Manner of Transporting Wares on Barges Drawn by a Bellows

Details / Information for The Manner of Transporting Wares on Barges Drawn by a Bellows

Series Title: Suite of the Most Notable Things Seen by John Wilkins Erudite English Bishop during His Famous Voyage from the Earth to the Moon … dedicated to Sir William Hamilton ambassador to the Court of Naples

The Manner of Transporting Wares on Barges Drawn by a Bellows

about 1769
(Italian, 1730–after 1807)
(French, 1735–1813)
Culture
Italy
Medium
etching
Measurements
Image and Plate: 27.8 x 38.1 cm (10 15/16 x 15 in.); Sheet: 42 x 53.1 cm (16 9/16 x 20 7/8 in.)
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
?

Did You Know?

Morghen based this print series on three books dedicated to moon exploration, including Bishop Francis Godwin’s The Man in the Moone (1640).

Description

Filippo Morghen’s set of 10 etchings is outstanding among visual narratives of imaginary voyages to the moon, both visual and literary, that intrigued 18th-century European audiences. A title page and nine plates depict the imagined lives and economy of moon dwellers. These include modes of transport such as large birds and sailboats propelled by giant bellows, enormous scissors for capturing wild beasts (including an oversized rat), and the use of giant pumpkins as fishing boats and as dwellings. Representations of the moon dwellers are based on inaccurate and imaginary European interpretations of Asian, Ottoman, and Native American cultures—called chinoiserie and turquerie—that permeated the decorative and visual arts of the period.
A horizontally oriented etching in black ink depicts a boat with a massive bellows on deck. A man with light skin pumps the device, blowing air through a pipe into a sail. Towed behind, another man sits on a raft, exhaling a billowing smoke cloud. In the foreground, finely etched plants and a coiled snake rest on a rocky bank. The inscription "no. 5" appears in the top right corner.

The Manner of Transporting Wares on Barges Drawn by a Bellows

about 1769

Filippo Morghen, Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Hoüel

(Italian, 1730–after 1807), (French, 1735–1813)
Italy

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