Thomas Rowlandson, prolific and brilliant draftsman, watercolorist, and engraver, observed English social and political life throughout a long career, with a sometimes satirical, but more often sentimental eye. Gin & Snuf is a quintessential example of Rowlandson’s grotesque caricature style, and shows his energetic and sure-handed pen and watercolor wash technique.

The drawing depicts an old couple enjoying themselves by partaking of the snuff box and the gin bottle. Gin in particular had a fraught history in England; being cheaper than beer, it was often consumed to excess. In the mid–eighteenth century, this resulted in government taxes designed to curb gin consumption. William Hogarth’s satirical engravings decry the ravages of gin on the English working class. Those ravages are clear in Rowlandson’s couple, too, although, his inscription, “every age has its comforts,” seems to make allowances for old age.