A laughing well-dressed man looks through a large round glass, his left hand in his pocket. A bailiff, standing to his left, puts his hand on the man's left arm while presenting him with a writ. In the background is a large, four-story building in front of which stands a sedan chair. From a building across the street hangs a large sign with Shakespeare's likeness, signed 'Shakespear.'
Description:
Title from item., Also published in 1769 by Carington Bowles., Publication date burnished from plate. Publication date inferred from Carington Bowles printing of 1769., Four lines of verse in two columns below image: Sir Fopling Flutter through his glass inspects the ladies as they pass ..., Identification of the subject as Charles Fleetwood, Manager of Drury Lane Theatre considered dubious by Chaloner Smith. See reference to another state in British mezzotinto portraits ... / by John Chaloner Smith. London : Henry Sotheran & Co., 1883, v.1, p. 217, no. 36, and Temporary local subject terms: Eye-glasses: quizzing glass - Slang: 'fopling' -- Bailiffs -- Signboards -- Allusion to William Shakespeare -- Documents: writs -- Vehicles: sedan chair -- Literature: reference to The man of mode, or, Sr. Fopling Flutter by Sir George Etherege. 1635?-1691.
