'Dilettanti-theatricals: - or - a peep at the green room'
45 of 65 portraits of Edward Smith Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby
'Dilettanti-theatricals: - or - a peep at the green room'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured soft-ground etching, published 18 February 1803
12 5/8 in. x 19 1/2 in. (320 mm x 496 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D13099
Artistsback to top
- James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist or producer associated with 887 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
- Hannah Humphrey (circa 1745-1818), Publisher and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 720 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
Sittersback to top
- Miss Anguish (active 1803). Sitter associated with 1 portrait. Identify
- Albinia, Countess of Buckinghamshire (died 1816), Wife of 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire. Sitter associated with 16 portraits. Identify
- Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (1748-1825), Politician and diplomat. Sitter associated with 26 portraits. Identify
- Miss Carpenter (active 1803). Sitter associated with 1 portrait. Identify
- George James Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley (1749-1827), Chamberlain to the Prince of Wales. Sitter associated with 16 portraits. Identify
- George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine (1751?-1824), Eccentric. Sitter in 20 portraits. Identify
- Edward Smith Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752-1834), Sportsman and patron of horse-racing. Sitter associated with 65 portraits. Identify
- Maria Anne Fitzherbert (née Smythe) (1756-1837), Famous beauty; morganatic wife of George IV. Sitter in 25 portraits. Identify
- King George IV (1762-1830), Regent 1811-19; Reigned 1820-30. Sitter associated with 274 portraits. Identify
- Henry Francis Greville (1760-1816), Lieutenant-Colonel, actor and founder of the Pic-Nic Society. Sitter associated with 4 portraits. Identify
- Frances Villiers (née Twysden), Countess of Jersey (1753-1821), Mistress of George IV and courtier. Sitter associated with 8 portraits. Identify
- Sholto Henry Maclellan, 8th Baron Kirkcudbright (1771-1827). Sitter in 3 portraits. Identify
- Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1764-1839), Writer on opera. Sitter in 9 portraits. Identify
- William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry (1724-1810), Rake and patron of the turf. Sitter associated with 12 portraits. Identify
- James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury (1748-1823), Lord Chamberlain. Sitter in 12 portraits. Identify
- Mary Amelia Cecil (née Hill), Marchioness of Salisbury (1750-1835), Political hostess and sportswoman. Sitter in 8 portraits. Identify
- Sir Lumley St George Skeffington (1771-1850), Fop and playwright. Sitter in 6 portraits. Identify
Linked publicationsback to top
- Lloyd, Stephen (ed.), Art, animals and politics : Knowsley and the Earls of Derby, 2016, p. 74
- Perry, Gill (introduction) Roach, Joseph (appreciation) and West, Shearer (appreciation), The First Actresses: Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 2011 to 8 January 2012), pp. 126-127
Events of 1803back to top
Current affairs
The Vice Society is formally established by John Reeves and his associates to campaign against blasphemy and immorality, particularly that perpetrated by Thomas Paine and the Edinburgh Review.Art and science
Erasmus Darwin's Temple of Nature published posthumously. A scientific treaty in the form of an elaborate couplet poem, its content anticipated some of the evolutionary ideas developed by his grandson, Charles Darwin, fifty years later.Construction of the Caledonian Canal begins.
International
War with France resumes, sparking new fears of a cross-channel invasion.United Irishman, Robert Emmett's attempted uprising in Dublin. Planned to coincide with Napoleon's expected invasion, it aimed to overthrow the English administration but ended in failure. Emmett is hanged along with several other conspirators.
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