Ballad of Mary Toft

About the work: This body of work reinterprets a printed broadside ballad published in England around 1726. Each piece in my series uses part of the ballad’s verse. The broadside tells the true story of Mary Toft who reportedly went into labor a few weeks after her miscarriage. The resulting “animal-like” discharge (likely placenta) from this later delivery was turned into a “hoax.” The “learned” doctor believed her when she claimed to have given birth to rabbits. The story is complex. At this time, man-midwives were trying to edge women out of their traditional roles attending to childbirth and most doctors understood little about women’s bodies and health. It was simpler to let a discovery of “monstrosities” carry the day and to blame the woman as the source of birth defects and congenital disorders as a result of her thoughts and sights while pregnant, or “maternal impressions.” The penny press, however, thought the whole affair was hilarious. They composed a rhyme with illustrations that was likely meant to be read or sung in taverns. My interest modernizing the imagery to this story’s verse is meant to rehabilitate our maternal impression and call attention to the fact that the health and reproduction rights of women often remain unaddressed.

Here’s to more rabbits! Editions of 25 each.

Rabbit Run, 12″ x 9,” etching and aquatint, 2013

Prying World, 12″ x 9,” etching,  aquatint, and chine collie, 2018

Up Starts a Rabbit, 9″ x 12,” etching and aquatint,  2018

My Notion’s Right, 9″ x 6,” etching and aquatint, 2013

A Designing Head, 6″ x 9,” etching and aquatint, 2013