Two women stand on a balcony, mouths open in song and eyes cast downward at their music sheet. They wear corsetted dresses and feathered head wear. A satire of the duet performed by Harriet Abrams (1758-1821), the English soprano and composer, and her sister Theodosia (ca. 1770-1849), a contralto, on 9 May 1788 at Hanover Square Rooms. The piece performed was 'Gia che mia sposa sei' by Antonio Sacchini, and the occasion was the annual benefit concert for the tenor Samuel Harrison
Alternative Title:
Duet at the Hanover Square concert
Description:
Title etched below image., After a drawing by John Nixon, now in the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, Foundling Museum, London. The artist's "JN" monogram and "1788" date are etched within center left portion of image., Imperfect; sheet trimmed within plate mark with loss of imprint statement from bottom edge. Imprint supplied from impression in the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, Foundling Museum, London., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum., and Laid down onto album paper, with a cropped portrait of an unidentified man on the verso: I. Hiresman pinx. ; M. Vdr. Guchta sculp.
