An allegorical representation of the nationalistic riot occasioned by a troupe of French comedians in London. This satirical print refers to the controversy and protest surrounding a French theatrical company, nicknamed the 'French Strollers', who applied for and were granted a licence to perform at the Haymarket in the winter of 1749. Their arrival occasioned much discontent; as the Scots Magazine reported, they were 'bitterly pelted in the news-papers'. Asserting their right to perform, they persisted in a show on 14 November, but were met by an audience intent on sabotage. An eyewitness account of the incident appeared in the Monthly Review some years later (July 1761): 'People went early to the Theatre, as a crouded House was certain ... I soon perceived that we were visited by two Westminster Justices, Deveil and Manning. The Leaders, that had the conduct of the Opposition, were known to be there; one of whom called aloud for the song in praise of English roast beef, which was accordingly sung in the gallery, by a person prepared for that purpose; and the whole house besides joining in the chorus, saluted the close with three huzzas! This, Justice Deveil was pleased to say, was a riot'. Despite the Justice's assertions that the play was licensed by the King's command, the crowd had come prepared to produce disruption. They were equipped with instruments which they played discordantly as an accompaniment to their jeers, catcalls, and Francophobic songs: 'as an attempt at speaking was ridiculous, the Actors retired, and opened instead with a grand dance of twelve men and twelve women; but even that was prepared for, and they were directly saluted with a bushel or two of peas, which made their capering very unsafe'. Unable even to dance, and following another abortive attempt by the magistrates to assert the King's authority, the curtain fell for the final time. The eyewitness evidently relished the outcome, venturing 'that at no battle gained over the French, by the immortal Marlborough, the shoutings could be more joyous than on this occasion'. The print embodies similar sentiments; the French strollers attack British theatrical establishment--represented by an affronted Britannia--who stands between them and British theatre-goers. In the foreground stands a perplexed Othello, lamenting the loss of his occupation, and an injured man a man lies on the floor 'Almost kill'd for not understanding French'.
Alternative Title:
Modern cramers
Description:
Title etched below image., Date of publication based on date of the depicted event., and Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain, England, and London.
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character), Foreign public opinion, French, Theater, Actors, Actresses, Fighting, and Riots
Playbill advertising a performance at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham which principally takes the form of an apology announcing that the lead of the evening's entertainment, Italian opera singer Angelica Catalani (1780-1849), is unable to attend due to ill health. The soprano's appearance had been much publicised by the local press, hence the need to justify her absence by publishing a communication by the attending doctor
Alternative Title:
Mr. Bartley most respectfully begs leave to inform the public ...
Description:
Caption title. and For further information, consult library staff.
Publisher:
[J]onathan Knott, printer, Birmingham
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Theatre Royal (Birmingham, England), Catalani, Angelica, 1780-1849., Centlivre, Susanna, 1667?-1723., and Birch, Samuel, 1757-1841.
Volume 2, page 22. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
"[1] 'H. Bunbury Esqr del.' Punch (left) points to a large butt or tun inscribed 'WYNNSTAY', from the top of which hang comic masks which encircle its upper circumference; in his right hand is a stick with an ass's head. On the right side of the butt are three figures: Mother Shipton, humpbacked with a profile like Punch's; a demon or satyr, who looks from behind the cask; and a small man or boy, perhaps Tom Thumb. [2] 'View of the Theatre at Wynnstay. I. Evans Esqr del.' A view of the theatre is framed by a curtain held up (left) by Comedy and right by Tragedy. The façade has the date '1782'. [3] 'Wynnstay. H. Bunbury Esqr del.' Amateur actors and actresses dance in a circle round a high pedestal supporting a bust of (?) Shakespeare. They include a Falstaff leering at a lady in Elizabethan dress, a man wearing a tall leek in his hat (? Fluellen), and a French military officer with long queue and cavalier's boots."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text above images., Three designs arranged in a vertical strip, each with its own title and artist's signature., Sheet trimmed to plate mark leaving thread margins., Plate from: The European magazine, and London Review, v. 9 (February 1786), page 71., Temporary local subject terms: Buildings: Theatre at Wynnstay., and Mounted on page 22 in volume 2 of: Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Publisher:
Publishd. Feby. 1, 1786, by I. Sewell, Cornhill
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Shipton, Mother approximately 1488-1561 (Ursula), and Wynnstay Theatre,
Subject (Topic):
Theater, Masks, Barrels, Demons, Theaters, and Pedestals
Volume 2, page 22. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
"[1] 'H. Bunbury Esqr del.' Punch (left) points to a large butt or tun inscribed 'WYNNSTAY', from the top of which hang comic masks which encircle its upper circumference; in his right hand is a stick with an ass's head. On the right side of the butt are three figures: Mother Shipton, humpbacked with a profile like Punch's; a demon or satyr, who looks from behind the cask; and a small man or boy, perhaps Tom Thumb. [2] 'View of the Theatre at Wynnstay. I. Evans Esqr del.' A view of the theatre is framed by a curtain held up (left) by Comedy and right by Tragedy. The façade has the date '1782'. [3] 'Wynnstay. H. Bunbury Esqr del.' Amateur actors and actresses dance in a circle round a high pedestal supporting a bust of (?) Shakespeare. They include a Falstaff leering at a lady in Elizabethan dress, a man wearing a tall leek in his hat (? Fluellen), and a French military officer with long queue and cavalier's boots."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text above images., Three designs arranged in a vertical strip, each with its own title and artist's signature., Sheet trimmed to plate mark leaving thread margins., Plate from: The European magazine, and London Review, v. 9 (February 1786), page 71., Temporary local subject terms: Buildings: Theatre at Wynnstay., 1 print : etching with engraving on laid paper ; sheet 25.8 x 14.9 cm., and Imperfect; sheet trimmed within plate mark on top edge with loss of title.
Publisher:
Publishd. Feby. 1, 1786, by I. Sewell, Cornhill
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Shipton, Mother approximately 1488-1561 (Ursula), and Wynnstay Theatre,
Subject (Topic):
Theater, Masks, Barrels, Demons, Theaters, and Pedestals
Volume 2, page 22. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1749-1789), politician and patron of the arts, held summer performances at his estate at Wynnstay, in North Wales. Bunbury incorporates into the design of this admission ticket the titles for the 1785 season: The Confederacy, As You Like It, The Agreeable Surprise, Venice Preserved, and Harlequin's Invasion. The titles are shown on banners held by the figures of Tragedy, Comedy, Pantomime, and Farce or draped over the branches of the tree. Bunbury uses Farce dressed as a harlequin holding a club labelled "invasion" to form a rebus of Garrick's play. In the background, the four figures are identified on the sails of a windmill. In the banner at the top of the oval is the name of the theatre and the year "1785"; at the top and bottom of the oval are the masks of comedy and tragedy
Description:
Title from item., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Mounted on page 22 in volume 2 of: Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs., 1 print : stipple engraving and etching on laid paper ; sheet 20.8 x 15.5 cm., and Imperfect; printmaker's signature has been mostly erased from sheet.
Volume 2, page 22. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1749-1789), politician and patron of the arts, held summer performances at his estate at Wynnstay, in North Wales. Bunbury incorporates into the design of this admission ticket the titles for the 1785 season: The Confederacy, As You Like It, The Agreeable Surprise, Venice Preserved, and Harlequin's Invasion. The titles are shown on banners held by the figures of Tragedy, Comedy, Pantomime, and Farce or draped over the branches of the tree. Bunbury uses Farce dressed as a harlequin holding a club labelled "invasion" to form a rebus of Garrick's play. In the background, the four figures are identified on the sails of a windmill. In the banner at the top of the oval is the name of the theatre and the year "1785"; at the top and bottom of the oval are the masks of comedy and tragedy
Description:
Title from item., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., and For further information, consult library staff.
Volume 2, page 22. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
An engraved ticket for a program of four plays presented in 1781 by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, the wealthy fourth baronet devoted to private theatricals. This ticket, an oval design in a rectangular frame, is for the 1781 performance of Rule a wife and have a wife, Bon ton, Richard III, and Lyar
Description:
Title etched below image., Artist identified as Bunbury in the British Museum online catalogue., Questionable printmaker attribution to Bretherton from the British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: 1917,1208.2958., Mounted on page 22 in volume 2 of: Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs., 1 print : etching on laid paper ; sheet 21.5 x 14.8 cm., and Sheet trimmed to plate mark.
Volume 2, page 22. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
An engraved ticket for a program of four plays presented in 1781 by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, the wealthy fourth baronet devoted to private theatricals. This ticket, an oval design in a rectangular frame, is for the 1781 performance of Rule a wife and have a wife, Bon ton, Richard III, and Lyar
Description:
Title etched below image., Artist identified as Bunbury in the British Museum online catalogue., Questionable printmaker attribution to Bretherton from the British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: 1917,1208.2958., and For further information, consult library staff.
Volume 2, page 24. Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs.
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
A woman, shown full-length, stands in a field in front of a theater, holding a dramatic mask; other masks are at her feet. Surrounding the scene is an oval frame of laurel with 'Wynnstay' on the ribbon at the bottom. A design for an admission ticket for the theater at Wynnstay, the private theater of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn
Description:
Title from inscription in ink at bottom of image., Attribution to Bunbury based on inclusion of the drawing in a volume of the artist's work., Date from local card catalog record., Mounted alongside the print made after this drawing, as well as with another related drawing, on page 24 in volume 2 of: Etchings by Henry William Bunbury, Esq. and after his designs., and Original design for a print in the British Museum; see British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: C,3.149.