A cat in pattens

Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827 · 1812

Though thoroughly in Rowlandson's characteristic manner the scene is somewhat suggestive of Hogarth's plate of 'Morning,' 'Times of the Day,' in which the portrait of Miss Bridget Allworthy is exhibited, the introduction of whose burlesqued resemblance is said to have cost the painter the loss of a legacy. An old maid whose countenance certainly bears a close resemblance to that of a cat, is shuffling along in the breeze on pattens; she has a boa and an enormous muff; before her trots a French poodle, clipped fantastically to resemble a parody of a lion ; behind her shivers a black page, in a tight gaudy uniform ; under his arm is his mistress's umbrella, and he holds before him a bundle of cat's meat. A half-naked and ruffianly beggar is trying to excite the benevolence of this shrewish Cat in Pattens.