[Home —> Visual Arts —> Victorian Illustrators —> Phiz (Hablot K. Browne) —> Illustrations of Martin Chuzzlewit —> Next]

Since the January instalment in fact went on sale on late December, it is reasonable to assume that Browne executed the accompanying pair of etchings as triplicate steels in early December after reading the first three chapters in proof. Already we see evidence of the illustrator's providing details that will provide his viewers with visual continuity in that Pecksniff will be readily identifiable throughout the sequence by virtue of his rectangular head, puritanical habiliments, and spiky hair. Phiz has derived the "two jutting heights of collar," the grizzled, "bolt upright" tonsorial crown, and languid eyelids directly from Dickens's initial description of the village architect and professional mentor of such budding apprentices as John Westlock and Tom Pinch. The furnishings of the room, particularly the bust and portrait of Pecksniff, as well as the "frizzled" hair of the younger Miss Pecksniff, are mentioned in the letterpress. But whereas Dickens describes the girl's hair in Chapter 2, he does not describe the Spiller portrait and Spoker bust until Chapter 5 in the second monthly part, so that these emblematic details may well have originated with Phiz.

The moment illustrated seems to be when Tom Pinch, stooping before the potentate, has opened the parlour door and tentatively entered, leaving John Westlock on the threshold as Tom attempts to make peace between former master and former pupil. With his rake-like figure and prematurely balding pate, Tom Pinch appears exactly as Dickens describes him (Penguin p. 68-70). The architectural studies hanging on the wall, however, were merely suggested to Phiz by the author's mentioning the kinds of architectural studies Pecksniff habitually sets his apprentices: "Public Buildings." The study immediately behind Pecksniff's head looks very much like a workhouse, factory, or prison block, all of which identifications are suggestive of his treatment of Westlock and Pinch. Akin to their father's self-satisfaction and lack of conscience about his callous exploitation of these young men's talents are the sisters' complacent expressions, their half-shut eyes mirroring exactly their father's.

The Latin motto beneath a framed picture of a monument, "Pecksniff Fecit," implies the master-architect's conception of himself as another Marcus Agrippa, the trusted second-in-command of Augustus Caesar who, having achieved victory at Actium, set out to transform Rome's buildings from brick to marble, his architectural legacy being the splendid PantheonÑthere may also be an English pun, implying Pecksniff's duplicity. From this plate onward we associate the number three with Pecksniff, as if he is the head of a trinity, his daughters being his complements as a three-personed deity. Michael Steig in his article "Martin Chuzzlewit's Progress by Dickens and Phiz" notes the Hogarthian detailing for which Phiz had become renowned. The poor box and pair of scales on the mantelpiece imply that the apparent benevolence and virtue of the Pecksniff trio is nicely calculated and hardly altruistic. A self-serving hypocrite in image as in letterpress, Pecksniff almost applauds himself as his finger-tips touch, supremely self-confident and unflappable, even when confronted by one who is quite undeceived: John Westlock, whose presence is implied only by the open door. The only Charity and Mercy, however, that Westlock encounters are the ironically named daughters.

Reference

Steig, Michael. "Martin Chuzzlewit's Progress by Dickens and Phiz." Dickens Studies Annual 2 (1972): 119-149.

---

Last modified 26 April 2007