Egbert van Heemskerck II - Print, satirical print (BM 1866,0407.58)

Satire on English admiration for foreign musicians set in cellar where performers and their audience all have the heads of different animals. In the centre, an ape-singer stands at a lectern conducting proceedings; a cat sits on his shoulders and an owl wearing spectacles perches on the head of the cat. The singers, to the right, include figures with the heads of a ram, donkey, goat, and bull; a bear plays bladder and string and a monkey a coal shovel and tongs.; a dog, seated in the foreground, howls in unison. In the background a cat-woman and an ass-man dance, an ape-man plays a jew's harp and another waves a glass and bottle. Another ape-man is perched on a ladder playing a pipe and tabor. The scene is lit by a smoking lamp hanging from the ceiling; a sheet of music lettered, "Fame orum, Wildum a Gorum,/Game orum, a Game" is pinned to the wall; a large jug, a hat, a slipper, broom, glasses and a bottle lie on the floor. c.1730
Etching and engraving