Wife & no wife, or, A trip to the Continent

lwlpr33259 (1024x824)

“The interior of a large church or cathedral. Burke, dressed as a Jesuit, standing within a low, semicircular wall at the foot of a crucifix, marries the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert. The Prince is about to put the ring on her finger. Fox gives her away, holding her left wrist. Beside him (right) stands Weltje in back view but looking to the left at the ceremony. A napkin is under his left arm, bottles project from his coat-pockets, and the tags on his shoulder denote the liveried manservant. To the left of Fox appears the profile of George Hanger. On the left North sits, leaning against the altar wall, sound asleep, his legs outstretched. He wears his ribbon but is dressed as a coachman, his hat and whip beside him. All the men wear top-boots to suggest a runaway match. Behind the Prince in a choir seat is a row of kneeling monks who are chanting the marriage service. The crucifix is partly covered by a curtain, but the legs and feet are painfully distorted … On the wall and pillars of the church are four framed pictures: ‘David watching Bathsheba bathing’, ‘St. Anthony tempted by monsters’, ‘Eve tempting Adam with the apple’, and ‘Judas kissing Christ’, the last being over the head of Fox.”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • PrintmakerGillray, James, 1756-1815, printmaker.
  • TitleWife & no wife, or, A trip to the Continent [graphic] / design’d by Carlo Khan.
  • PublicationLondon : Publish’d by Willm. Holland, No. 66 Drury Lane, London, March 27, 1786.

Catalog Record & Digital Collection

786.03.27.01.2++

Acquired October 2015

Wynnstay Theatre

Bartolozzi, Francesco, 1727-1815

Wynnstay Theatre / H. Bunbury inv. ; F. Bartolozzi sculp.

Published: [England? : s.n.], 1785.

785.00.00.117

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.

Wynnstay Theatre: 1 print on laid paper : stipple engraving in brown ink

Wynnstay Theatre: 1 print on laid paper : stipple engraving in brown ink

Subjects (Library of Congress): Wynnstay Theatre; Theater–Wales.

Material: Stipple engravings; Rebuses; Ephemera; Admission ticket.

Lewis Walpole Library new acquisition: 2009