King Henry VIII
1 portrait of King Henry VIII
© National Portrait Gallery, London
King Henry VIII
by Robert Jacob Hamerton, published by Metzler & Co
chromolithograph, 1870
13 3/4 in. x 9 5/8 in. (349 mm x 246 mm) paper size
Given by John Hall, 1972
Reference Collection
NPG D42827
Artistsback to top
- Robert Jacob Hamerton (active 1831-1858), Painter and lithographer. Artist or producer associated with 4 portraits.
- Metzler & Co (active 1833-1866), Musical instrument manufacturer and seller and music publisher. Artist or producer associated with 2 portraits.
Events of 1870back to top
Current affairs
William Edward Forster's Education Act is passed, making provisions for education for all under-13s. It demonstrated the balance in Gladstone's first ministry between progressive reform and conservativism by spreading literacy, whilst maintaining the status of Church schools.The Married Women's Property Act gives wives rights over their own earnings.
Art and science
The Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, based on Shakespeare's play and written with the aid of composer Mily Balakirev, debuts in Moscow, conducted by Nikolai Rubenstein.W. G. Grace becomes cricket captain of Gloucestershire, marking the start of a successful decade for the club in which they won three 'Champion County' titles.
International
Isaac Butt, an Irish MP at Westminster, forms the Home Rule Association.The Franco-Prussian war breaks out between France and a coalition of German states led by Prussia. Provoked by the candidacy of German Prince Leopold Hohenzollen-Sigmaringen for the Spanish throne, France declared war in July after Bismark published the deliberately provocative Ems telegraph, in which the French were represented in an offensive light on the issue.
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John Culme
04 February 2020, 07:25
This music sheet for Henry Walker's 'Bluff King Hal,' published by Metzler & Co. dates from early 1870.
'THE COMIC SONG OF 1870. There has been a good deal of rubbish talked about the Comic Songs of to-day, which are supposed not to be as comic as the whack-row-de-dow and fol-de-dol comicalities of a former period. . . . Mr. Alfred Lee's music is always so bright and sparking, we must not complain if the words of ''The Grecian Band'' ([published by] SHEARD), and ''Down in a Diving-Bell'' (HOPWOOD & CREW), are not quite as funny as they might be. ''Bluff King Hal'' (METZLER), we must confess we do not see any point in. . . .' (Judy, or the London Serio-Comic Journal, London, 2 March 1870, p. 179b)