WILLIAM HOGARTH (1697-1764). Rare Group of Six 18th Century Engravings. Marriage A La Mode, featurings plates 1 through 6. I'm showing plate IV out of frame and I'm showing close-ups of plate IV. Each is framed under plexi-glass. If you want them shipped in the frames, we'll ship three prints each in two boxes and shipping will be $125.00. If you want us to remove all the prints from the frames and the mats we can ship them all flat in one box for $35.00. AS A COMPARATIVE: A group of six Marriage A La Mode Engravings sold at Swann Galleries on May 11, 2000 for $9200.00 including buyer's premium.
Marriage a la Mode was a six part series of paintings and engravings produced by William Hogarth in the period of 1743-1745. Prior to completion the artist had advertised the paintings for sale. They drew in several bids, all of which were submitted in a sealed envelope. Anyone with sufficient funds was able to put in an offer, but there were several individuals known to the artist that would typically be a part of each bidding process. Hogarth used this system of sale on multiple occasions. Research has unveiled that he revisited this series several times over a period of several years, taking a break from the project from time to time. This series was well received and a number of professional copiers produced their own versions of the original works.
The six paintings in this series tell a collective tale, starting with the negotiations over a planned marriage of two well connected young people. We then follow their lives through to the woman’s eventual passing. This style of using individual artworks as chapters of an overall story can be seen in several of Hogarth’s series of paintings and engravings. The precise meaning behind this series has been discussed and argued over for many centuries, with few confident conclusions drawn. Even as recently as 1998 there were new opinions delivered on it by an academic, refreshing this debate which will surely never really go away.
The paintings were sized similarly, each at around 90cm by 70cm. They are owned by the National Gallery, which is a prestigious venue that covers many of the finest British artists in history. A large amount of care was used by Hogarth within Marriage a la Mode, with an extraordinary level of detail to be found in each and every corner. The backdrops that lie behind the main figures of each scene are elaborate, with paintings framed and hanging gracefully on the walls, with scenery also viewable through several windows. In the foreground we find stunning attention to detail in the clothing for each figure, with most of those included being depicted in fun and eye catching activities, with whole varieties of different poses.
Most academics have concluded that the artist is pointing fun at elements of high society within this series, with the main theme being that of an arranged marriage that fails miserably. The choice of money over love plus the interference of so many people other than the couple themselves is the root of most of these problems. It also comments negatively on the practice of exchanging and passing on titles and wealth. These were the rooms in which these decisions were made, giving the general public a rare insight into the dealings of the rich and famous. In terms of commenting on the vulgar use of vices, this series also links closely to his Gin Lane and Beer Street engravings, only on this occasion from the perspective of the richer elements of society. Indeed, The Happy Marriage was a planned companion to Marriage a la Mode in a similar way to his alcohol themed series but that never progressed past the initial stage of preparatory sketches.

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