Blowing up the Pic Nic's - or - Harlequin Quixote attacking the puppets

Blowing up the Pic Nic's - or - Harlequin Quixote attacking the puppets

Item Information

Title:
Blowing up the Pic Nic's - or - Harlequin Quixote attacking the puppets
Title (alt.):
Blowing up the Pic Nic's. Or, Harlequin Quixote attacking the puppets
Description:
Sheridan leads the forces of the professionals against the amateurs of the Pic Nic Society, who are performing on a small, elegant stage, rising (without orchestra) from the boards in the foreground where these enemies advance. He is dressed as Harlequin. The tight chequered dress (slightly torn) accentuates his obesity. An empty purse hangs from his belt. In his left hand is a hat with a tricolour cockade (emblem of Jacobinism). In his right hand he flourishes a large pen whose feather makes wide swirling curves, terminating in firework-stars, and inscribed with the names of newspapers. He is masked, to indicate that he has been writing anonymous squibs against the Pic Nics. The swirls of his pen partly obscure a figure of Comedy, meretricious, and half-naked, holding up a mask which decorates the left pilaster of the proscenium. The actors follow in characteristic attitudes. Kemble (as Hamlet) wearing a ribbon, ranting in tragedy, directly behind Sheridan, staggers back with legs astride, both arms raised. On the left is Mrs. Billington, singing, left hand on her breast. Mrs. Siddons (? as Lady Macbeth) clutches a dagger. Behind is the head of Lewis with a comedian's smile, wearing a cocked hat. Crowds of actors pressing on from behind (left) and in deep shadow, are indicated by arms holding up banners. The chief one with the head of 'Shakespeare,' badly torn. Others are 'Otway Rowe,' 'Kotzbue,' and 'Schiller,' both tricolour (indicating the supposedly revolutionary tendencies of modern German drama. In the foreground, through splintering boards, the ghost of Garrick rises, a mask in his hand. A playbill shows that Fielding's farce is being performed. Only the left part of the stage is visible (on the right); the performers are terrified at Sheridan's squibs, they can hardly have seen his followers. The actors, dressed in character, are feasting on the stage. In alarm at the attack, the table is upset and dishes cascade to the ground. Dollalolla, Lady Buckinghamshire, her breasts bare, throws up her fat arms and one gouty leg. She wears a spiky crown or tiara, behind her is the sharp profile of Lady Salisbury (Huncamunca). The tall Lord Cholmondeley (not Lord Buckinghamshire) as King Pic Nic stands in profile to the left. with both arms raised. Next him is a man dressed as a military officer, Colonel Greville. Little Lord Mount Edgcumbe [styled Lord Valletort by Wright and Evans, his courtesy title 1789-95] as Tom Thumb (or Alexander the Great) sits in profile to the left on a three-legged stool, arms and legs extended, holding knife and fork. He wears armour and a feathered helmet. The front of the proscenium below the stage is decorated with swags of grapes and roses hung with coronets and centred by a comic mask with daggers thrust through the eyes. Below is a frieze of dressed-up dancing dogs (BM). / The Pic-nic Society is understood to have originated with Lady Albina Buckinghamshire; it was formed in the spring of 1802...to perform farces and burlettas...The society was very exclusive. Each member, previous to the performances, drew from a silk bag a ticket which was to decide the portion of entertainment which he was expected to afford. The performances took place in rooms in Tottenham Street. The regular theatrical performers took alarm at this scheme, which they imagined would draw from the stage much of the higher patronage on which it depended for support. A charge of immorality was also raised against them, and they became the butt of the attacks of many of the newspapers...The greater actors are here attacking the Pic-nics, led by Sheridan, who was said to be the great instigator of the newspaper attacks (Wright/Evans).
Artist:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
Name on Item:
Js. Gillray Invt.
Date:
April 1802
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Etchings
Caricatures
Satires (Visual works)
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
James Gillray (1756-1815). Prints and Drawings
Subjects:
Politicians
Nobility
Authors
Musicians
Actors
Actresses
Theatrical productions
Organizations
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
Cholmondeley, George James Cholmondeley, Marquess of, 1749-1827
Billington, Elizabeth, 1765-1818
Buckinghamshire, Albinia Hobart, Countess of, 1738-1816
Garrick, David, 1717-1779
Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823
Lewis, William Thomas, 1746?-1812
Cecil, Mary Amelia, Marchioness of Salisbury, 1750-1835
Siddons, Sarah, 1755-1831
Mount Edgcumbe, Richard Edgcumbe, Earl of, 1764-1839
Pic-Nic Society (London, England)
Places:
England > London
Extent:
1 print : hand-colored etching ; plate mark 29 x 22 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z111k91c
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
London : Published by John Miller, Bridge Street & W. Blackwood, Edinburgh
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from item.
Alternative title from Wright/Evans.
BM Satires 9916; Wright/Evans 516
Additional information accompanying item: From the 1824 Gillray collection of copies, etched and published by John Miller and W. Blackwood.
Notes (acquisition):
Gift; Louis Black; December 1953
Notes (date):
Date from item.
Reproduction. Date indicated is Gillray's original publication date.
Notes (citation):
Stephens, Frederic George, George, Mary Dorothy. "Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." British Museum Press, 1870, London.
Wright, Thomas, R. H. Evans. "Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures of James Gillray." Benjamin Blom, 1968, New York.
Identifier:
18_17_000057
Barcode:
36666004443319