Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 :[Industry and idleness]. The idle 'prentice betray'd by his whore & taken in a night cellar with his accomplice. Plate 9. Design'd & engrav'd by Wm Hogarth. Publish'd according to Act of Parliam[en]t Sep 30 1747.

The scene is set in the cellar of the tavern `Blood Bowl House', renowned for its seedy, rowdy and violent ambience. Men are fighting, a soldier with his back to the viewer is standing next to the fireplace pissing against the wall, the dead body of a murdered passer-by is being shoved down through a trap-door in the floor. Idle and his accomplice, recognisable as the same person he gambled with in Plate 3, are dividing their pickings, two fob watches, a snuff box and some trinkets. Behind him his mistress is betraying him to the high constable who is accompanied by officers of the Watch. She receives payment in cash in her out-stretched right hand as she points to Idle with her other hand.

Beneath the main image is a scriptural text in a cartouche. Proverbs, Chapter VI, Verse 26. The adultress will hunt for the precious life.

Inscriptions: Recto - above image - Title

Tells the contrasting stories of two apprentice weavers, Goodchild and Idle. The series was aimed at the ordinary people, at the masters who would hang these prints in their shops and at their apprentices. Hogarth explained that they were `calculated for the use and instruction of those young people wherein everything necessary to be convey'd to them is fully described in words as well as figures'.

Quantity: 1 b&w art print(s).

Physical Description: Engraving, 266 x 344 mm (platemark), one of two engravings on cream wove paper, 652 x 485 mm