John Edwin and Mrs. Mary Wells as Lingo and Cowslip in "The Agreeable Surprise"
Date:
1787
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor with gouache, black chalk and stumping on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 16 5/16 x 12 5/8 inches (41.4 x 32 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in brown ink, on paper label attached to back of original frame: "For this Drawing | Georgina the celebrated and beautiful | Duchess of Devonshire | offered one hundred Guineas. | It is the only Picture for which Edwin | ever sat and such was his reluctance | that it was with great difficulty he was persuaded | to give Mr. Downman the Painter, three | sittings in the course of two years. | The resemblance is perfect. | 29th December1810 - J. S.(?)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.6154
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
actress | actor | gesture | man | woman | theater (discipline) | ribbons | ruffles | sea | cravat | hat | wig | gown | coat | bowl | literary theme | curls | The Agreeable Surprise, play by John O'Keeffe, 1781 | play
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
The Line of Beauty : British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-05-19 - 2001-08-05)English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures (Yale Center for British Art, 1979-12-05 - 1980-02-17)
Publications:
Christie's sale catalogue : Choice pictures and drawings of the early English school the property of Mr. E. M. Hodgkins : 29 June 1917, Christie's, London, p. 7, Lot 29, Fiche B51 YCBAChristie's sale catalogue : Pictures and drawings the property of Lady Currie deceased also important pictures by old masters and works of the early English school : 30 June 1906, Christie's, London, p. 4, Lot 8, Fiche B51 YCBAWinifred H. Friedman, Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, New York, 1976, p. 192, fig. 172, PR2833 .B553 F7 1976 (LC)Sarah Murden, The Life of Actress, Mary Wells, , All Things Georgian, February 22, 2018, https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/the-life-of-actress-mary-wells/Patrick Noon, English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures, Yale Center for British Art, 1979, pp. 63-65, no. 79, NC772 N66+ (Wall Shelf) (YCBA)Scott Wilcox, Line of beauty : British drawings and watercolors of the eighteenth century, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, p. 23, no. 8, NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA)George Charles Williamson, John Downman, A.R.A : His Life and Works, Otto limited, London, 1907, pp. xx, xli, xliii, xlviii, pl. 33, NJ18 .D7904 W55 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA