The works in this section are all examples of eighteenth-century British comic art.  As its name implies, the comic image usually conveys some type of humorous message, decipherable by subtle clues hidden throughout the image.   

James Gillray pokes fun at society by highlighting the differences between the icon of “Maternal Love” and the modern “Fashionable Mamma.”  The artist’s ironic intent is revealed through instances such as the textual juxtaposition of the “maternal” with the “fashionable” and the visual juxtaposition of the former’s tenderness towards her child with the latter’s  distance.  Henry William Bunbury provides us with a series of illustrations from the popular eighteenth-century novel Tristram Shandy.  Most viewers would have been familiar with the comic nature of the novel and would have recognized the humorous scenes represented. 

The comic work is never straight forward.  The viewer must sometimes search for the subtle pun.  As you view this section, be active in looking for clues which will lead you to the humor in each of these works.