William Hogarth (1697-1764)
‘Industry And Idleness VI: The Industrious ’Prentice out of his Time and Married to his Master’s Daughter’ (October 1747)
[Second state] Etching and engraving on copper; printed on laid paper.
Plates VI and VII describe the two apprentices’ attitudes to the institution of marriage. Goodchild’s attentiveness to his master’s daughter has paid off; they have been married and his career advances greatly as a result. The couple appear in this scene after their wedding at the window of their substantial family residence in the heart of the City of London, next to the Monument commemorating the Great Fire of London. Hogarth included the Monument, with its tendentious inscription blaming the Great Fire on Catholics, to emphasise the Protestant basis for the work ethic represented in the series. Goodchild and his wife are elegantly dressed and drink tea as he rewards a drummer for his group’s music, a traditional entertainment at London weddings. The sign on the house showing a lion with a cornucopia on each side and the names ‘West and Goodchild’, indicates that the apprentice is now a full partner with his master in the business.
Industry & Idleness 
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