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'Connoisseurs examining a collection of George Moreland's'

4 of 5 portraits of Caleb Whitefoord

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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'Connoisseurs examining a collection of George Moreland's'

by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching and aquatint, published 16 November 1807
15 1/8 in. x 12 1/4 in. (384 mm x 310 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D12897

Sittersback to top

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

Many of Gillray's works satirise the art world. Here the figures under attack are art lovers. In the corner of a carelessly hung room, five men are examining a collection of paintings by George Morland (1763-1804). Despite his hasty and later negligent production, Morland's work enjoyed huge popularity. Gillray satirised Morland's distinctive sentimental, rural paintings by suggesting their coarseness and sexual innuendo. The 'connoisseurs' lack of real taste is epitomised by the foremost figure, Captain Baillie, an engraver, who peers through his glasses the wrong way round. Similarly, Mortimer, a picture dealer and restorer standing to the far right, puffs and spits with grossly protruding lips at a painting of an enormous boar. Preliminary sketches for some of these characters are in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

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Events of 1807back to top

Current affairs

Act is passed abolishing the British slave trade after vigorous campaigning by hundreds of thousands of people led by Thomas Clarkson and championed in parliament by reformer William Wilberforce.
Resignation of 'Ministry of all the Talents'. Whig politician William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, Duke of Portland, succeeds as Prime Minister.

Art and science

Thomas Hope publishes Household Furniture and Interior Decoration; influential in promoting Greek and especially Egyptian models as the epitome of fashionable style.

International

French invasion of Spain and Portugal.
Britain occupies Copenhagen and captures the Danish fleet.
Napoleon begins to wage an economic battle against Britain, recognising the impossibility of victory at sea because of Britain's superior naval power. He aims to close the entire European coastline to British trade.

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