Humours of an Election Humours of an Election The Humours of an Election is a series of four oil paintings and later engravings by William Hogarth that illustrate the election of a member of parliament in Oxfordshire in 1754. The oil paintings were created in 1755. The first three paintings, "An Election Entertainment", "Canvassing for Votes" and "The Polling", demonstrate the corruption endemic in parliamentary elections in the 18th century, before the Great Reform Act. The last painting, "Chairing the Member", shows the celebrations of the victorious Tory candidates and their supporters. At this time each constituency elected two MPs, and there was a
Cowdray engravings Cowdray engravings The Cowdray engravings comprise five 18th-century engravings of 16th-century wall-paintings, originally commissioned by Sir Anthony Browne. The original paintings were destroyed by fire in 1793. The Cowdray engravings are based on five paintings produced for Sir Anthony Browne, King Henry VIII's Master of the Horse. They were probably produced between 1545 and 1548 and were painted onto the walls of Browne's hall in Cowdray House. They showed key scenes in his life and might have been used by him when recounting stories during formal events. The painting included "The Departure of King Henry VIII from Calais", "The Encampment