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Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as Melpomene

9 of 38 portraits of Sarah Siddons (née Kemble)

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Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as Melpomene

by James Gillray, published by James Ridgway
etching and aquatint, published 6 December 1784
13 7/8 in. x 9 7/8 in. (353 mm x 251 mm) plate size; 17 1/2 in. x 12 5/8 in. (446 mm x 320 mm) paper size
acquired
Reference Collection
NPG D41671

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist associated with 881 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
  • James Ridgway (active 1784-1811). Artist associated with 6 portraits.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG D19729: Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) as Melpomene (from same plate)

Placesback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1784back to top

Current affairs

Theatre proprietor and postal reformer John Palmer runs the first mail coach in England, between Bristol and London. A three day journey is now completed in 16 hours.
Commutation Act reduces punitive duties on tea to combat smuggling.

Art and science

Aeronaut James Sadler makes the first hot air balloon flight in Britain, from Oxford to Woodeaton.
Chemist Henry Cavendish's paper Experiments on Air reveals the composition of water.
Writer Samuel Johnson dies.
Joshua Reynolds succeeds Allan Ramsay as Painter to the King.

International

Thomas Jefferson's Land Ordinance passed by the United States' Continental Congress, coming into effect the following year. It allows for the sale of land in the largely unmapped west of the country.
Britain receives its first bales of cotton from the United States since before the War of American Independence.
William Pitt's India Act creates a Board of Control to oversee the affairs of the British East India Company and centralise power.

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