"A satire on Drury Lane Theatre. The Board consists of three men at a table, almost covered by four large dishes, each containing an article of food with a portrait head. On the farther side sits Sheridan, ladling guineas towards his grinning and avid mouth. Facing him is Tom Sheridan, identified by a pamphlet, 'Caractacus', in his coat-pocket, and, opposite him, the President of the Board, .... These two turn towards the foremost of a number of hungry dogs with human heads; the latter beckons to him, while Tom feeds him with a cheque or note of 100£. Another dog, its collar inscribed 'John Bull' [1803], showing that he is Colman, turns away, but looks distrustfully over his shoulder at the pair. There are six others. T. Sheridan draws furtively from the pocket in the tail of his coat a purse, for which a (normal) dog begs, seated on an open book, 'The World' [first played at Drury Lane 31 Mar. 1808], showing that he is James Kenney. Beside the book are scattered papers inscribed 'Rejected Plays &c.', at which two dogs with human heads sniff and paw. One has a collar inscribed 'Carlo' [from 'The Caravan', see No. 10172, &c.], and is probably F. Reynolds. A man, resembling Wroughton in No. 11079, approaches the table, a napkin under his arm, carrying a large tureen inscribed 'Water Grue and containing plays: 'World!' [Kenney], 'Siege of St Quintin' [by T. Hook, first played Drury Lane 10 Nov. 1808], 'Travellers' [by Andrew Cherry, music by Corri, first played Drury Lane, 14 Jan. 1806], 'Venoni' ['or, The Novice of St. Mark's'] (by M. G. Lewis, first played Drury Lane, 1 Dec. 1808). The dishes on the table are 'Toad in a Hole, Turtle, Calfs Head Surprse [sic]', and 'Barbicued Pig'. Under the table (right) is a pile of papers, or books in shadow at which mice or rats are nibbling. These are the neglected classics, and are inscribed 'Jonson', 'Shakesp . . .', 'Beaumont and Fletch . . .' The room is panelled."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker identified as De Wilde in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Plate from: The Satirist., and Mounted to 27 x 41 cm.
Publisher:
Published for the Satirist Feby. 1st, 1809, by S. Tipper, 37 Leadenhall Street
Subject (Name):
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England), Arnold, Samuel James, 1774-1852, Colman, George, 1762-1836, Cherry, A. 1762-1812 (Andrew),, Dimond, William, active 1780-1837, Hook, Theodore Edward, 1788-1841, Kenney, James, 1780-1849, Lewis, Matthew Gregory, 1775-1818, Reynolds, Frederick, 1764-1841, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Sheridan, Thomas, 1775-1817, and Wroughton, Richard, 1748-1822
Subject (Topic):
Dogs, Dramatists, Eating & drinking, Interiors, and Taverns (Inns)
"A four-footed monster, with four human heads, the long hairy body resembling that of a dog, stand in an open space in front of the theatres of Covent Garden (left) and Drury Lane (right), the latter partly obscured by clouds rising from the ground, and with the statue of Apollo, headless as in British Museum Satires No. 10764. The three main heads are those of Sheridan, saying "Ha, ha, ha," Kemble saying "Oh!!!!!", with a tragic expression, and of a clown (evidently Grimaldi) with painted face and blue wig, saying, "Nice Moon". A dagger is thrust into Kemble's neck, blood gushing from the wound. A fourth head wearing a mask, that of Harlequin, looks over the back of the monster, who wears a Harlequin coat over its fore-legs and the front part of its body. It has a long barbed tail inscribed 'A Tail of Mistery'. The monster's fore-paws rest on a paper: 'Regular Dramas Congreve Beaumont and Fletcher Colman' [attacked in British Museum Satires No. 5064, now a standard author]. A hind-foot rests on 'Shakespear's Works'. Under its body are a number of modern dramatists, some of whom suck from its many teats. They are portraits, and some are identified by the titles of plays by which they stand. On the left. Frederic Reynolds bestrides a large dog (Carlo) by 'The Caravan' [see British Museum Satires No. 10172, &c.]. A man sits on the shoulders of a monk with cloven hoofs in order to reach a teat; the monk (Lewis) stands on 'Wood Daemon' [a 'Grand Romantic Melo-Drama' by M. G. ('Monk') Lewis, first played at Drury Lane 1 Apr. 1807 (cf. British Museum Satires No. 10727)]. Holcroft, wearing spectacles (as in BMSat 9240), stands on the 'Road to Ruin' [see British Museum Satires No. 8073]. Skeffington, wearing long striped pantaloons, stands on his 'Sleeping Beauty' [see British Museum Satires No. 10455]. On the extreme right. Dimond, tall, thin, and foppish, stands on his 'Hunter of the Alps', played at the Haymarket in 1804. There are five other men, less prominent, and unidentified by inscriptions. Behind, an old man (or woman) drives a flock of geese past the arcade of Covent Garden Theatre."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from British Museum catalogue. and Plate from: The Satirist, v. 1, page 225.
Publisher:
Published for the Satirist, Decr. 4th, 1807, by S. Tipper, Leadenhall Street
Subject (Geographic):
England and London
Subject (Name):
Covent Garden Theatre,, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England)., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823, Grimaldi, Joseph, 1779-1837, Grimaldi, Joseph, 1779-1837., Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823., and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816.
