A Harlot's Progress, Plate VI

A Harlot's Progress is a series of six paintings and engravings by the English artist William Hogarth.  The modern moral series was first published in print form in 1732, just after an official crackdown on prostitution had begun, focused specifically on Covent Garden.  They show the story of a young woman, Moll Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country alone and and vulnerable and is tricked into prostitution by a devious brothel keeper. 

The sixth and final plate of the series depicts Moll's friends, mostly prostitutes, gathered around her coffin in a dilapidated room.  Moll died at the age of twenty-three, but nobody mourns her passing at this mock vigil.  A clergyman gropes beneath one woman's skirt, whilst the undertaker makes advances on another.  Only her old serving woman has some sense of decorum as she stares angrily at the clergyman.  Moll's young son sits below his mother's coffin playing with a spinning top.

This print is produced on St Cuthbert's Mill special acid free archival artboard.  The overall loose print size is 33cm x 24cm.  The framed print is presented in 20mm black wood archivist moulding, complete with rope hanger over hardboard back with a cream board mount.  The overall size is 43cm x 33cm.