19TH CENTURY HOGARTH STROLLING ACTRESSES DRESSING IN A BARN ORIGINAL FRAMED ETCHING RUPENHAUSEN PRINT

A finely executed early 19th-century reproductive engraving of William Hogarth’s famous satire on the suppression of unlicensed theatre. The scene shows a troupe of actresses hurriedly preparing in a ramshackle barn, parodying both stagecraft and moral censorship following the Licensing Act of 1737.

Engraver’s inscription (lower right): “Rupenhausen del. & sc.”

Artist’s inscription (lower left): “W. Hogarth inv. pinx. 1738”

Title: engraved in the lower center margin

Framed size: 55 × 65 cm (22 × 26 in) / est. plate size: approx. 45 × 55 cm (17¾ × 21½ in), image area 

Paper: laid or wove, typical of late early 19th-century Continental impressions

Condition: Excellent, framing seal intact, no scratches on glass.