Cestina Warehouse or Belly Piece Shop 1793

Isaac Cruikshank created this print, "Cestina Warehouse or Belly Piece Shop" with etching and watercolor. The composition is carefully arranged to highlight the artificiality of fashionable female silhouettes. See how the artist contrasts natural and unnatural forms. On the left, a woman is being fitted with a prosthetic belly, while to the right, other women parade exaggerated curves, all under the gaze of male figures. The floating "belly pieces" above, labeled by "month," emphasize the absurdity of manufactured pregnancy. Cruikshank uses line and color to satirize the period’s obsession with appearance and artifice. Notice how the clothing transforms human form and redefines the natural body as a commodity. The title itself plays on the semiotics of retail, suggesting that bodies can be shaped and sold like any other product. Cruikshank pushes beyond mere critique, destabilizing cultural values and creating new ways of thinking about identity and representation. The print’s detailed lines and vibrant colors are not just aesthetic choices but tools for dissecting and challenging the era’s social norms.