June / Juin 1776 - 1786

Richard Earlom created this mezzotint print, titled "June," sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. It's a fascinating image that raises questions about class and labor in England at that time. The print depicts an androgynous figure dressed in the height of fashion, leaning languidly against a classical plinth. But what makes this so interesting is the juxtaposition of the figure with the scene glimpsed through the gate behind them: agricultural laborers toiling in the fields. Is this a comment on the vast social inequalities of Georgian England? Is it a satire of the aristocracy's detachment from the realities of rural life? It's hard to say for sure. To really understand the print, we have to consider its institutional context. Prints like these were often made for a growing middle class, eager to consume images of both the elite and the everyday. By looking at estate records, fashion plates, and social commentaries of the period, we can begin to unpack the complex social dynamics at play in this seemingly simple image.