'"Monstrosities" of 1799, - scene, Kensington Gardens'
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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'"Monstrosities" of 1799, - scene, Kensington Gardens'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 25 June 1799
10 3/8 in. x 14 3/8 in. (264 mm x 364 mm) plate size; 11 in. x 14 7/8 in. (280 mm x 377 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D12699
Sitterback to top
- Thomas Johnes (1748-1816), Translator, farmer, landscape architect; owner of the Hafod estate and politician; MP for Cardiganshire and Radnorshire. Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
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.
This portraitback to top
The most striking element of this 1799 caricature is the large 'poke bonnet' worn by the lady in profile. These were the height of fashion for morning wear in the late 1790s and were much ridiculed; 'a good guard against all familiar approaches of those who have any regard for their eyes' complained one journal. Her companion wears a 'helmet hat' and both sport cropped hair, cut very short behind and left full and 'frizzed' over the forehead. The poke bonnet is accompanied by a gown in the classical style featuring sleeves with epaulettes, a draped sash and a false rump stuffed with cork. Bosoms could also be stuffed while cork plumpers were sometimes worn in the mouth to restore roundness to hollow cheeks. The diaphanous neckerchief of the other woman's dress is probably of Italian gauze, worn very large and full, though often failing to preserve modesty as intended.
Events of 1799back to top
Current affairs
The Prince of Wales is reconciled with his secret wife Maria Fitzherbert.Corresponding Societies Act is passed prohibiting certain named political groups including the radical London Corresponding Society and the United Irishmen.
Art and science
The Swiss artist Henry Fuseli, resident in England since 1778, is appointed Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy.The conservative educator Hannah More publishes her Strictures on Female Education which criticised demands for women's rights while proposing an active role for them within religious and moral movements.
International
Successful defence of Acre in the Levant is led by William Sidney Smith.British expedition to Holland, led by General Ralph Abercromby, ends in evacuation after allies defeated at Battle of Bergen-op-Zoom.
Fall of the ruling Directory in France. Napoleon seizes power.
The Rosetta Stone is discovered in Egypt.
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Caroline Compton
19 July 2019, 11:32
The Gillray caricature of 'Monstrosities of 1799' also alludes to Johnson's dictionary.
Clearly Gillray hadn't actually seen Thomas Johnes of Hafod as he was rotund, not tall and slender.
Caroline Compton
18 September 2020, 16:24
Gillray depicts Thomas Johnes as something of a dandy.
Johnes probably didn't speak Welsh as he was brought up in Herefordshire at Croft Castle, went to Eton and then Jesus College, Oxford before taking on the Hafod estate. He translated medieval French chronicles by Monstrelet, and de la Brocquiere into English, having them printed at his private press.
With the guidance of his cousin Richard Payne Knight and his friend Uvedale Price, he transformed the Hafod estate in the wilds of mid Wales into a picturesque landscape, his farm workers producing Parmesan cheese and planting hundreds of thousands of trees.