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Source Description
Filippo Morghen’s set of 10 etchings is outstanding among visual narratives of imaginary voyages to the moon, both visual and literary, that intrigued 18th-century European audiences. A title page and nine plates depict the imagined lives and economy of moon dwellers. These include modes of transport such as large birds and sailboats propelled by giant bellows, enormous scissors for capturing wild beasts (including an oversized rat), and the use of giant pumpkins as fishing boats and as dwellings. Representations of the moon dwellers are based on inaccurate and imaginary European interpretations of Asian, Ottoman, and Native American cultures—called chinoiserie and<em> turquerie</em>—that permeated the decorative and visual arts of the period.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
536595
label
A House on Water, and a New Way to Summon Geese by the Beat of a Drum
core
obj
dtoType
print
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
536595
contentType
print
title
A House on Water, and a New Way to Summon Geese by the Beat of a Drum
description
Filippo Morghen’s set of 10 etchings is outstanding among visual narratives of imaginary voyages to the moon, both visual and literary, that intrigued 18th-century European audiences. A title page and nine plates depict the imagined lives and economy of moon dwellers. These include modes of transport such as large birds and sailboats propelled by giant bellows, enormous scissors for capturing wild beasts (including an oversized rat), and the use of giant pumpkins as fishing boats and as dwellings. Representations of the moon dwellers are based on inaccurate and imaginary European interpretations of Asian, Ottoman, and Native American cultures—called chinoiserie and<em> turquerie</em>—that permeated the decorative and visual arts of the period.
date
about 1769
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q118144885
creators
402915
57560
genreSpecific
Print
imageCount
1
source
import
cul
Italy
accession
2023.19.10
Source extras
tec
etching
tombstone
Suite of the Most Notable Things Seen by John Wilkins Erudite English Bishop during His Famous Voyage from the Earth to the Moon … dedicated to Sir William Hamilton ambassador to the Court of Naples: A House on Water, and a New Way to Summon Geese by the Beat of a Drum, about 1769. Filippo Morghen (Italian, 1730–after 1807), possibly after Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Hoüel (French, 1735–1813). Etching. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchased with funds from the Estate of Muriel Butkin, 2023.19.10
series
Suite of the Most Notable Things Seen by John Wilkins Erudite English Bishop during His Famous Voyage from the Earth to the Moon … dedicated to Sir William Hamilton ambassador to the Court of Naples
collection
PR - Etching
didYouKnow
Morghen based this print series on three books dedicated to moon exploration, including Bishop Francis Godwin’s, Man in the Moone, 1640.
citations
citation
McColley, Grant, “The Three Editions of Filippo Morghen’s Raccolta,” The Art Bulletin (Mar., 1937).
page_number
Vol. 19, No. 1: pp. 112-118.
citation
Jenkins, Ian and Kim Sloan. Vases and Volcanoes. Sir William Hamilton and His Collection. London: British Museum Press, 1996.
page_number
cat. 41, p. 163.
citation
Guthke, S. Karl, “Nightmare and Utopia: Extraterrestrial Worlds from Galileo to Goethe,” Early Science and Medicine 2003.
page_number
Vol. 8, No. 3: pp. 173-195, see p. 192-193.
creditline
Purchased with funds from the Estate of Muriel Butkin
updatedAt
2026-05-29 09:09:32.305000
sourceId
536595
dept
Prints
coll
PR - Etching
med
etching
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
66df800d5ee566c7