Title from caption below image.
Printmaker from BM Satires.
Bergami, moustachioed, whiskered, and alluring, in a tight-fitting harlequin's suit over which is a short gold-laced jacket, sits on a tall stool, holding up a life-like puppet representing the Queen. He grasps it by the waist, and pulls a ribbon, making arms and legs fly up. She smiles delightedly down at him, her ringlets flying. Bergami, part courier, part Harlequin, has a heavy queue of hair hanging from his black curls, and wears a peaked cap with a big gold tassel. A heavy postilion's whip projects from his pocket. He is directed to the left, towards an open French window and a vine trellis, with a view of Lake Como. He raises his right leg, looking over his left shoulder, away from his puppet. On the floor are the courier's discarded pistol, powder-flask, holster, and saddle; behind his chair are portmanteaus, one inscribed 'B - B'. A large book propped against a decanter inscribed 'A Boire' is: 'Hop Step and Jump, or, every man his own Courier. List of Postes on the high road from Dunghill, to Barona'. A partly dropped curtain (right) reveals two figurines embracing below a shelf of books. The carpet is patterned with hearts.