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C1822
(1822)
A Just View of the British Stage, or Three Heads are Better than One, Scene Newgate
Artist:
This print was prompted by the popularity of exotic, irrational and often foreign amusements which caused a decline in the traditional native theatre. It attacks the frenzy for such extravaganzas as the pantomines, farces and virtual circuses staged by John … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
A Just View of the British Stage, or Three Heads are Better than One, Scene Newgate
Date:
C1822
(1822)
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
210mm
x 200mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1822
Description:
This print was prompted by the popularity of exotic, irrational and often foreign amusements which caused a decline in the traditional native theatre. It attacks the frenzy for such extravaganzas as the pantomines, farces and virtual circuses staged by John Rich at Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
The stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, during a rehearsal for a new
farce; the three managers of the theatre seated at table in centre, to
the left Robert Wilks, dangling a punch puppet, speaking ‘Poor R-ch
Faith I pitty him’; Colley Cibber in centre, with harlequin puppet looks
up to the right, speaking ‘Assist ye Sacred Nine’; and on the right
Barton Booth lowers puppet of Jack Hall into a privy, speaking ‘Ha this
will do G-d D-me’; on either side of stage are statues on pedestals, to
the left Tragedy, with head hidden by notice of ‘Harlequin Dr Faustus’,
and on the right Comedy hidden by notice of ‘Harlequin Shepherd’;
surrounded by pantomime props, including a hanging fiddler, wtih similar
ropes hanging above the heads of the managers; Ben Johnson’s ghost
rising on the left, looking down on the fallen and broken statue of a
Roman soldier.
From The works of William Hogarth from the original plates restored by
James Heath : with the addition of many subjects not before collected,
to which are prefixed a biographical essay on the genius and productions
of Hogarth, and explanations of the subjects of the plates, by John
Nichols.
William Hogarth (1697 - 1794)
Hogarth was born in London, the son of an unsuccessful schoolmaster and writer from Westmoreland. After apprenticeship to a goldsmith, he began to produce his own engraved designs from 1710. He later took up oil painting, starting with small portrait groups called conversation pieces. He went on to create a series of paintings satirising contemporary customs, but based on earlier Italian prints, of which the first was ‘The Harlot’s Progress’ (1731), and perhaps the most famous ‘The Rake’s Progress’. His engravings were so plagiarised that he lobbied for the Copyright Act of 1735 as protection for writers and artists.
