Contemplations upon a coronet [graphic]

"Miss Farren (left) sits at her dressing-table, contemplating with rapt admiration an earl's coronet on a wig-block which is a caricature of Lord Derby's head. The voluminous draperies of her dress define a thin and angular figure, with a long thin neck. At her feet is an open book: 'Tabby's Farewell to the Green Room'; near it is a torn paper: 'Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady. How Lov'd how valued once avails thee not To whom Related or by whom Begot.' A pad for inflating the figure (cf. BMSat 8388, &c.) lies across a stool (right). A 'Genealogical Chart of British Nobility' hangs from the dressing-table; the tree issues from the recumbent figure of 'Willm Conqr'; on it lies a small-tooth comb beside which is an insect. Behind Miss Farren are the closed curtains of an ornate bed, whose valance is decorated with the cap of Libertas and the words 'Vive la Egalite'. On the wall hangs a 'Map of the Road from Strolling Lane to Derbyshire Peak'; the places, from S. to N., are: 'Strolling Lane', 'Beggary Corner', 'Servility Place', 'Old Drury Common', 'Affectation Lane', 'Insolence Green', 'Fool-Catching Alley', 'Derbyshire Peak viz Devils Ar.' A jewel-box, bottles, &c, are on the dressing-table, some inscribed: 'Bloom de Ninon', 'For Bad Teeth', 'Cosmetick', 'For the Breath'. On the ground, under the valance of the table, is a large bottle of 'Holland[s]'. After the title: '"A Coronet! - O, bless my sweet little heart! - ah, it must be mine, now there's nobody left to hinder! - and then - hey, for my Lady Nimminney-pimmenney! [see BMSat 8888] - O, Gemmini! - no more Straw-Beds in Barns; - no more scowling Managers! & Curtsying to a dirty Public! - but a Coronet upon my Coach; - Dashing at the Opera! - shining at the Court! - O dear! dear! what I shall come to!'"--British Museum online catalogue