'Wife & no wife - or - a trip to the Continent'
9 of 72 portraits matching these criteria:
- set matching 'James Gillray etchings (1781-1810)'
- 'Image on website'
'Wife & no wife - or - a trip to the Continent'
by James Gillray, published by William Holland
hand-coloured etching, published 27 March 1786
14 7/8 in. x 19 in. (377 mm x 482 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D13066
Artistsback to top
- James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist or producer associated with 887 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
- William Holland (active 1782-1802), Book and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 12 portraits.
Sittersback to top
- Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Statesman; orator; author. Sitter associated with 107 portraits. Identify
- George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine (1751?-1824), Eccentric. Sitter in 20 portraits. Identify
- Maria Anne Fitzherbert (née Smythe) (1756-1837), Famous beauty; morganatic wife of George IV. Sitter in 25 portraits. Identify
- Charles James Fox (1749-1806), Whig statesman. Sitter associated with 313 portraits. Identify
- King George IV (1762-1830), Regent 1811-19; Reigned 1820-30. Sitter associated with 274 portraits. Identify
- Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1732-1792), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 64 portraits. Identify
- Louis Weltje (1745-1810), Comptroller to the Prince of Wales. Sitter in 5 portraits. Identify
Events of 1786back to top
Current affairs
Philosopher and politician Edmund Burke instigates impeachment proceedings against Warren Hastings, former Governor-General of Bengal after concerns about the moral standards of the British in India are raised.Prime Minister William Pitt appoints commissioners for the reduction of the national debt and establishes a sinking fund of £1 million a year.
Government approves the establishment of a penal colony at Botany Bay.
Art and science
Robert Burns publishes Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect bringing him immediate success across the country.Engraver and publisher John Boydell initiates plans for his Shakespeare Gallery in an effort to establish a school of British history painting.
Merchant David Dale establishes New Lanark in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, as a model cotton milling community.
International
General Charles Cornwallis succeeds Warren Hastings as Governor-General in India.Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna.
Francisco Goya is appointed court painter to the Spanish king Charles III.
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