Mary Robinson (née Darby)
(1756 or 1758-1800), Known as 'Perdita'; writer, actress and mistress of the future George IVRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 13 portraits
Mary Robinson was also known as Perdita after playing that role in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale in 1779. It was during a performance of this play that she attracted the notice of the young Prince of Wales, later King George IV. Her affair with him ended amidst much publicity in 1781: she threatened to publish the prince's letters and, in exchange for returning them, she was rewarded with £5000 and a small annuity. She subsequently earned her living through writing, publishing poems for The Oracle (1790-3) and the Morning Post (1797-1800), as well as plays, pamphlets, translations, miscellaneous journalism, autobiography, and several novels.
by or after Sir Joshua Reynolds
pen and brown ink over pencil, circa 1782
NPG 5264
by George Dance
pencil, 1793
NPG 1254
by Samuel Haydon, after George Romney
drypoint etching and aquatint, (1780-1781)
NPG D39813
after Thomas Gainsborough
photogravure, (1781)
NPG D39811
after Thomas Gainsborough
photogravure, (1781)
NPG D39812
by John Keyse Sherwin
stipple engraving, 1781
NPG D17074
'Monuments lately discovered on Salisbury Plain'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 15 June 1782
NPG D12309
'Paridise regain'd' (King George IV; Charles James Fox; Mary Robinson (née Darby))
probably by James Gillray, published by J. Langham
hand-coloured etching, published 20 February 1783
NPG D12329
'General Blackbeard wounded at the battle of Leadenhall'
by John Boyne, published by Edward Hedges
etching, published 5 January 1784
NPG D12344
by William Daniell, after George Dance
soft-ground etching, (1793)
NPG D14744
by Samuel William Reynolds, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
mezzotint, 1820 or after (1782)
NPG D4040
by Samuel Haydon, published by Edward S. Palmer, after George Romney
drypoint etching and aquatint, published 9 November 1876 (1780-1781)
NPG D39814
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