colored etching, "The Golden Remedy—Or Electrical Panacea"
Date: dated 1817
Inventory Number: 1998-1-1095
Classification: Engraving
Subject:
Maker: George Cruikshank (1792-1878)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
0.1 x 39.1 x 26 cm (1/16 x 15 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.)
Material:
Accessories: slip of paper containing brief commentary
DescriptionThis is a satirical color etching by George Cruikshank dating to 1817 (1792-1878), which depicts a dentist and other physicians administering the new, fashionable electrical shock treatment to various patients, which was used to cure hysteria and other nervous conditions, gout, and even paralysis. After Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) discovered ‘animal electricity’ in the late 18th century, which used tiny electrical currents to stimulate nerves and muscles in animals, similar ideas were applied to humans.
The scene takes place in an upper-middle-class drawing room with a maroon and yellow floral carpet, heavy, pink tasseled drapery surrounding a large window, and a painting with electrical bolts in the background. The scene includes various applications of the new treatment (from left to right): a man with puffy, red cheeeks admiring himself in a mirror; a young boy shocking a possibly hysterical woman with the static electricity generated from a cat by holding it beneath her dress, so that her hat and wig fly off of her head to reveal her unkempt, short hair; a dentist using electrical treatment on a patient's teeth;electricity either being applied to a man's swollen genitalia or his swollen knee; a patient with gout sitting on a green chair; a man on crutches standing in the doorway who hopes for an electrical cure; and another observer in the doorway who is working with a plate electrical machine (in modern day terms an electrostatic generator), who operates a conductor terminating in a ball near bell-jar (possibly a leiden jar to store electricity).
The etching's yellowed page bears a mark from adhesive tape in its lower right corner.
The scene takes place in an upper-middle-class drawing room with a maroon and yellow floral carpet, heavy, pink tasseled drapery surrounding a large window, and a painting with electrical bolts in the background. The scene includes various applications of the new treatment (from left to right): a man with puffy, red cheeeks admiring himself in a mirror; a young boy shocking a possibly hysterical woman with the static electricity generated from a cat by holding it beneath her dress, so that her hat and wig fly off of her head to reveal her unkempt, short hair; a dentist using electrical treatment on a patient's teeth;electricity either being applied to a man's swollen genitalia or his swollen knee; a patient with gout sitting on a green chair; a man on crutches standing in the doorway who hopes for an electrical cure; and another observer in the doorway who is working with a plate electrical machine (in modern day terms an electrostatic generator), who operates a conductor terminating in a ball near bell-jar (possibly a leiden jar to store electricity).
The etching's yellowed page bears a mark from adhesive tape in its lower right corner.
In Collection(s)
Signedunsigned
Inscribedbelow image, center: The Golden Remedy—Or Electrical Panacea;
on the back of the image: Medical/ Also of Dental Interest/ as the Patient seated in high chair/ is being treated by Electrcity/ for toothache/ See Reid (617) for amusing description/ K-l-l- Very rare D 1640.;
on accompanying sheet of paper: Cruickshank, George. The Golden Remedy--or Electrical Panacea. Lively Caricature on electromagnetism and therapeutics. colored engraving (1817) 10-1/8 x 15 1/2 inches--$42.00 See Reid no 619, p. 60, for full description.
on the back of the image: Medical/ Also of Dental Interest/ as the Patient seated in high chair/ is being treated by Electrcity/ for toothache/ See Reid (617) for amusing description/ K-l-l- Very rare D 1640.;
on accompanying sheet of paper: Cruickshank, George. The Golden Remedy--or Electrical Panacea. Lively Caricature on electromagnetism and therapeutics. colored engraving (1817) 10-1/8 x 15 1/2 inches--$42.00 See Reid no 619, p. 60, for full description.