Maria Dickons (née Poole)

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed: Dickons 1815 Contessa Figaro/sospir.

This portraitback to top

In The Marriage of Fiagro 1815.

The Chalon brothers painted a wide variety of subjects, mainly in watercolour. Alfred Chalon became a fashionable portraitist, painting, among others, a very successful head of Princess Charlotte and one of the first portraits of Queen Victoria after her accession. Theatrical caricatures were an unusual genre for him though the V&A Museum has a sizeable collection of them.

Physical descriptionback to top

A spirited three-quarter-length as 'the Contessa' in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, first performed by her to Catalani's 'Susanna' at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, 18 June 1812.

Provenanceback to top

Probably Chalon sale, Christie's 13 March 1861 (390), as 'Theatrical Reminiscences. Vol. i: a scrapbook containing admirable caricatures of celebrated singers and dancers'; Mrs Florence A. Blake and bought from her 1922.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

View all known portraits for Maria Dickons (née Poole)