Ironic Collection

Los Caprichos by Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828). Spanish painter and printmaker. Los Caprichos. Lo que puede un sastre! (What can a tailor!). Number 52. Aquatint. 1799. Reproduction by M. Segui i Riera

Goya (1746-1828). Spanish painter and printmaker. Los Capric
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828). Spanish painter and printmaker. Los Caprichos. Donde va mama? (Where are you going mum?). Number 65. Aquatint. 1799. Plate 43. Reproduction by M. Segui i Riera

Ww1 / 1915 / German Optimism
The German people favours OPTIMISMUS rather than PESSIMISMUS [though isn t it ironic that the sign should be rose-tinted spectacles ?]

WW2 era - Comic Postcard - Oh, I do like a bit of butter
The ironic Caption is Oh! I do like a bit of butter on my bread. The weekly butter ration per person was 2 oz - 56 grams. Cute Kids WW2 Wartime humour Date: circa 1944

Cartoon - Cooking Made Easy (No.3), an ironic depiction. 19th century

Cartoon - Comfortable Lodgings, an ironic depiction. 19th century

WW1 - Cartoon - Jolly trench warfare
WW1 - " The Incorrigibles" - A dark humoured cartoon illustrating trench warefare with irony. Two soldiers meeting in the trenches

Sandwich board man with dogs on a Victorian scrap
Sandwich board man attacked by two dogs on a Victorian scrap. He is advertising J Thridgould & Co, Sidney Street (off Commercial Road), cheapest house in London for scraps

Old man in shabby suit
An old man in a shabby suit leans (perhaps unwittingly) against an advertisement for Burton tailoring: Let Burton Dress You

Howitzer shell, Iron Ration, WW1
A 15 inch Howitzer shell on the ground, during the First World War, with the ironic words Iron Ration painted on it. Date: 1914-1918

Two boys outside Brighter Homes
Two boys standing in the street outside the premises of Brighter Homes, depressingly boarded up, with broken windows above. Date: 1970s

Goblins with a pink flamingo on a Christmas card
Goblins dragging a reluctant pink flamingo through the snow on a Christmas card. Perhaps all the shops had sold out of turkeys. Date: circa 1890s

Goblins with a turkey on a Christmas card
Goblins dragging a live turkey along with ropes on a Christmas card. Date: circa 1890s

Three turkeys on a Christmas card. Date: circa 1890s

Man with book, Close-up Photography, Manchester
A man has to remove his glasses to peruse a book entitled Close-up Photography in a Manchester bookshop. Date: circa 1981

A man works beneath a car, beneath a car poster, in Eccles
An advertising poster up on a house wall for the new Ford Sierra car (estate and saloon) looks down on a man trying to fix his old car! Date: circa 1980

The hunters sleep, Les Images en Musique
A hunter sleeps while rabbits dance round him in a ring, illustration in Les Images en Musique, with illustrations by Benjamin Rabier and easy pieces for piano by Jane Vieu. Date: 1908

Cartoon, When I am tired of business worries
Cartoon showing a man with his fishing line caught up on a plant -- When I am tired of business worries I usually go fishing. Date: 1914

Seaside scene, Saucy Sue, showing a far from saucy woman in masculine-style clothes, sitting on a beach reading a book on Ethics, while children play in the sea in the background. Date: July 1914

Very un-stuck-up woman, stuck-up with sticking plasters
" Gracious me. But, ain t you the stuck up thing!" Very un-stuck-up American woman, stuck-up with sticking plasters Date: 1908

WW2 - Comic Postcard - Where to put Cookery Books?
WW2 Rationing - Humour - Where shall we put the old-time Cookery Books? Fiction or Humour ?! Date: circa 1944

WWI - French drive the Prussians back into the Marne
WWI - The failure of the Turkish Krupp cannon against the French Creussot cannon - French propaganda postcard, so this need be taken with a moderate dosage of salt... Date: 1914

Ragged British Family Carol Singing - Christmas - this card bears the title: " I still work for the same firm - Wife and four kids" !! Date: circa 1910s

Irony of a sweet child wearing an HMS Furious cap
HMS Furious - somewhat ironic picture showing an old soldier and the least likely ilor of the HMS Furious, a sweet little child in a sailor suit. Date: circa 1890s

Scruffy Street Tough advertising The Ladies Idol
Humorous ironic cartoon by Phil May, depicting a scruffy, unattractive street tough advertising The Ladies Idol at The Vaudeville Theatre. Date: 1895

Very tatty sandwichboard man advertises smart Gents suits
Visual irony of a very tatty sandwich board man advertising a Gentleman Tailor and his smart suits, retailing for 12/6. Date: circa 1890s

Two extremely ragged men reading a smart fashion magazine. Bill Snooks (reading from a fashion paper) - " To be really well dressed

Old Man with pair of wooden legs advertising corn plasters
Very black humour - An Old Man with a pair of prosthetic false legs advertising corn plasters! Date: 1895

Irony - fat Londoner begs for money for his starving family
A rather fat Londoner begs for " a copper" for his " starving wife and family at ome" fom a smart gent (Phil May himself - clearly seeing the ludicrous side of the request!)

Two ragged street women disgust respectability
In the Bars and Streets. Cartoon drawing by Phil May depicting two poor ragged street women disgusting another who they describe, with no hint of the obvious irony, as " not respectable"

Ironic Conversation between two Cockney men in an East London Boozer. " Who was t bloke I see yer speakin to larst night?" " Wot sort o bloke

Popular song Goodbye Dolly
A woman in despair over her drowning soldier husband who whilst rowing broke an oar and fell into the water. Realising his fate he bids fond farewell to his wife, Dolly

LCC-LFB Serious fire at Prudential building, Holborn
Two firefighters view the fire poster at the Prudential Assurance Company building in High Holborn WC1, shortly after extinguishing a major fire there

Shadow drawing. C. H. Bennett, A Native
A Native of these islands. This scruffy, dirty looking but contented old character is apparently a stranger to soap and water, which is ironic as he casts the perfect shadow of a wash basin and jug

Racial / Japan 1875
Progress of civilisation in Japan is the caption for this illustration, but we suspect the writer is being ironic

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