The Bottle: Plate V. Cold, Misery and Want...by lithographers Francis Michelin and David William Moody

Michelin, Francis · ca 1847

This black and white tinted print depicts one of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's <i>The Bottle.</i> The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a family, now reduced to two children due to the starvation death of the toddler. Mother, father and son huddle near a meager fire, the mother holding a wine glass, the father holding a bottle. The daughter stands with her hand on the toddler's coffin. The mother and daughter are weeping. A fork is stuck in the wall and holds up a piece of fabric that is covering the window, and a candle is stuck in the wine bottle on the mantle.