Bartolozzi, Francesco, 1727-1815
Wynnstay Theatre / H. Bunbury inv. ; F. Bartolozzi sculp.
Published: [England? : s.n.], 1785.
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
Subjects (Library of Congress): Wynnstay Theatre; Theater–Wales.
Material: Stipple engravings; Rebuses; Ephemera; Admission ticket.
Lewis Walpole Library new acquisition: 2009