Harding, G. P. (George Perfect), 1780-1853, artist
Published / Created:
[not after 1806?]
Call Number:
Folio 33 30 Copy 11
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
Wash drawing of the chimneypiece in the Little Parlour at Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill villa in Twickenham. Its design was taken from the tomb of Thomas Ruthall, Bishop of Durham, in Westminster Abbey. A saracen's head, the crest from the Walpole family arms, sits atop a blank shield at the center of the mantel
Description:
Title written in brown ink below image, in a contemporary hand., Signed by the artist in ink in lower right corner using his monogram: The letters "G" and "P" below with an "H" centered above., Date of production based on death date of Richard Bull, who assembled the extra-illustrated volume in which this drawing appears., Mounted on page 52 of Richard Bull's copiously extra-illustrated copy of: Walpole, H. A description of the villa of Mr. Horace Walpole. Strawberry Hill : Printed by Thomas Kirgate, 1784. See Hazen, A.T. Bibliography of the Strawberry Hill Press (1973 ed.), no. 30, copy 13., and For further information, consult library staff.
Subject (Name):
Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797 and Strawberry Hill (Twickenham, London, England)
A whimsically portrayed Horace Walpole makes a shushing gesture with one finger on his lips while holding an empty picking basket in his other hand. A small lapdog with a decorative bow tied around its neck, presumably Tonton, accompanies Walpole on the task. Doctor John Dolittle, the central character in Hugh Lofting's series of children's books also appears in the scene as a young curious boy pointing up towards the hill
Description:
Title from text above image., Date based on watermark: 1914 England., Text penned below title: The dilletante member for King's Lynn sneaks away from Parliament in the midst of an important debate to pick strawberries on Strawberry Hill with his young friend John Dolittle, the naturalist, aged seven., and Text penned below image: Note: the dog shown is the first specimen of the Strawberry-hound introduced into England.