Progress of the Toilet, The Stays 1810

Curator: What a sharp scene! I'm immediately struck by the visual narrative—that intense corseting... one can almost feel the pressure! Editor: This engraving is titled "Progress of the Toilet, The Stays," created around 1810 by James Gillray. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum, a window into early 19th-century toilette practices rendered with a satirical twist. Curator: The emphasis on ritual here! Consider the woman at her vanity, mirrored by the small dog in the looking glass; then the maid’s grim assistance, all under the theatrical burgundy drapery. Gillray employs such stark caricature to mock what seems like extreme aristocratic vanity. Editor: Corsets in that era are potent symbols—signifiers of both repression and aspiration. They forced the body into an idealized shape, promising status but also enforcing societal constraints. Curator: Look closely; it isn't merely satire of personal vanity, but the politics of presentation in public life. Consider what "shape" meant in the period-- to be shaped to proper social expectation, class standing, and availability within social networks. Corsets perform this social demand through their rigid demand upon the figure. Editor: Indeed. The "toilet" was not simply about personal grooming; it was a social performance, particularly for women. These rituals cemented the complex relationship between private presentation and public perception, an aspiration that is almost always at conflict, a tension beautifully explored here. Curator: To see the tension captured so deftly within the frame reminds us of our ever-evolving visual language for the way that bodies are shaped into social performance. Editor: Gillray gives us so much more than simple portraiture; this is socio-political commentary. A poignant lens into societal expectations, made timeless through vivid representation.