Characters in high life

Characters in high life

Item Information

Title:
Characters in high life
Description:
A tall handsome lady walks diagonally forwards from left to right, her left hand on the arm of a much shorter companion with a larger head, perhaps a young girl. The latter, though her dress is simple, has a grotesquely high bunch of erect feathers in her turban, and holds a large fan. The tall lady is wearing a fashionable turbine with tall feathers at the front, a high-waisted dress, with voluminous petticoats and a flowing train. Drapery is twisted round her waist and festooned about her skirts. In the background, ladies with erect feathers in their hair are freely sketched. An officer in back view leads a lady by the hand, an enormous cocked hat in his left hand. Beneath: 'Characters in High Life. Sketch'd at the New Rooms, Opera House. "Delightful Task! to teach the young Idea how to shoot!"' They are identified as the Duchess of Rutland and her unmarried sister, Lady Gertrude Manners. She had no unmarried sister-in-law. (Her unmarried sister was Lady Elizabeth Fitzroy.) More probably one of her two young daughters, Lady Elizabeth, m. 1798, or Lady Katherine (BM).
Artist:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
Name on Item:
Js. Gy. des. et fect.
Date:
June 20, 1795
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Etchings
Caricatures
Satires (Visual works)
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
John D. Merriam Collection
Subjects:
Clothing & dress
Turbans
Nobility
Fans (Accessories)
Extent:
1 print : hand-colored etching ; plate mark 36 x 26 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z111j673
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
N. 37 New Bond Street : Pubd. by H. Humphrey
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from item.
BM Satires 8722; Wright/Evans 404
Verso has part of a failed Gillray print: "The Shadow of a Duke," June 25, 1795.
Notes (date):
Date from item.
Notes (citation):
Stephens, Frederic George, George, Mary Dorothy. "Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." British Museum Press, 1870, London.
Wright, Thomas, R. H. Evans. "Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures of James Gillray." Benjamin Blom, 1968, New York.
Identifier:
18_17_000099
Barcode:
36666003787005