Mary Hogarth beautiful and light-hearted". When Robert Story visited the Hogarth household in 1836, he described Hogarth as "the fairest flower of spring". Dickens showed particular affection to Hogarth, and described her as "a close friend, an exceptional sister, a companion at home." It is believed that Hogarth was the first person to read "The Pickwick Papers" and "Oliver Twist", as Dickens valued Hogarth's input and feedback more than his wife's. In the early hours of 7 May 1837, after Hogarth had returned from a showing of "Is She His Wife?" at the St James's Theatre with the Dickens couple, she collapsed
Hogarth Painting the Comic Muse is now marked with black and on the pillar she stands beside is inscribed "Comedy 1764". The , which is depicted on the right, has nothing inscribed on it but "William Hogarth, 1764" on the bottom. Through this engraving, the early Georgian elbow chair in which Hogarth is shown sitting gave rise in the late nineteenth century to the collectors' and dealers' designation of "Hogarth chair" for similar bended-back elbow chairs with vase-shaped splats, slip seats (upholstered over a drop-in frame) and cabriole legs on pad feet. Such chairs from the American colonies are designated "Queen Anne chairs", perpetuating an