A BRASS KNOCKER MAN, OR, ALL OUT.
A Brass Knocker Man, or, All Out.
Engraving, handcolored, 1802.
Image size 6 3/4 x 9 1/16" (17.2 x 23 cm).
Good condition, small repaired hole within the image and a repaired tear in the upper left margin. LOCATION: New York City
Inventory Number: 97433
Price: $100.00 Publisher : Publish'd Octr. 12, 1802 by Laurie & Whittle, 53, Fleet Street, London, The text below the image dictates the conversation between the man and the woman at the door. "Pray young woman is your master at home. --- no Sir he is gone out along with my Mistress. --- is his Son at home. --- no he is gone out. --- are any of the Clerks at home. --- no they are all out. --- Well as the Weather is rather cold I shall step in and sit by the parlor fire till some of them come home. "Oh! Sir you cant do that, for that is gone out likewise."
This engraving might be satirizing the knocker-up profession (also known as knocker-uppers), which came into existence in Britain and Ireland during the industrial revolution. A knocker-up's job was to knock on people's doors and windows to rouse workers so they could get to work on time. It was an age before alarm clocks were affordable for the average person and even if one could afford them, they were seldom reliable. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Caricatures and Satirical , English Satire & Caricatures