Bertha E. Jaques, born Covington, OH - Sphinx, Thames, London - n.d. - T-Shirt

This etching by American printmaker Bertha E. Jaques shows one of the bronze sphinxes that guard Cleopatra's Needle on the Victoria Embankment of the River Thames in London.

Visual Elements & Composition

The image is built around a single monumental figure: the sphinx sits low and heavy in the frame, its bronze form rendered through fine line work and tonal shading typical of copper-plate etching. Quiet riverside setting and architectural edges surround the statue, and the composition keeps the eye on the sculpture's stillness rather than on any busy detail.

Meaning & Symbolism

The sphinxes were installed in the late nineteenth century beside Cleopatra's Needle, an ancient Egyptian obelisk presented to the United Kingdom. Together they reflect the Victorian fascination with Egyptian archaeology and imperial monuments, placing ancient history inside a modern industrial city. Jaques chose the subject to capture that meeting of old and new. She was a founding member and longtime secretary of the Chicago Society of Etchers and a central figure in the early twentieth-century American etching revival, and her travel etchings show her command of the copper plate and her interest in historic motifs.

Wearing the Sphinx on a Tee

A sphinx on a tee is a statue seen at close range, the way a passerby would stop to look at it on the embankment. The print sits on the chest, where the calm profile and the quiet riverside view read at a glance, and the shirt carries a piece of Victorian London and a working printmaker's eye into everyday wear.