The Drinking Customs of Society or Worship of Bacchus (1864): Art, History and Details

The Drinking Customs of Society or Worship of Bacchus (1864) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is George Cruikshank (British, 1792–1878); Charles Mottram (British, 1807–1876).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Made during the Victorian era in England (1837–1901), this grandly scaled print utilizes the imagery of a Roman bacchanalia—an ancient wine-fueled festival dedicated to Bacchus—to convey a frenzy of activities related to alcohol and its role in society. Bacchus, Silenus (his teacher), and a bacchant (a follower) appear as sculptures in the center, while widows and orphans, whose husbands and fathers have succumbed to alcohol, appear below. Foreground vignettes featuring a religious service, social gathering, marriage feast, christening, birthday party, and funeral demonstrate alcohol’s ubiquity in middle-class society. George Cruikshank was part of a movement in England that promoted moderation—or even complete abstinence—in the consumption of alcohol.

Object facts

• Title: The Drinking Customs of Society or Worship of Bacchus
• Date: 1864
• Creator attribution: George Cruikshank (British, 1792–1878); Charles Mottram (British, 1807–1876)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: steel engraving
• Dimensions: Image: 55.9 x 99.1 cm (22 x 39 in.); Platemark: 68.6 x 108.3 cm (27 x 42 5/8 in.); Sheet: 73.7 x 112.6 cm (29 x 44 5/16 in.); Matted: 76.2 x 113.7 cm (30 x 44 3/4 in.)
• Collection: PR - Steel engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1931.434

A detail from the museum

Gin became available in England in the early 1700s. Unlike more expensive spirits, gin was popular with people of all classes, leading to a moral panic that persisted throughout the 1800s.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Coburn Haskell

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.