"A struggling crowd, partly within and partly without the pit door, a spiked gateway, of Drury Lane Theatre. Men, respectably dressed but of plebeian appearance, stand in the foreground on the outskirts of the crowd or fight their way in, some with sticks. There are a few women; one who has fainted but is in an erect position owing to the crowd, is being revived with smelling-salts. A man is vomiting. In the foreground two lady's hats, the ribbons partly torn off, lie on the ground with shoes and the broken fragments of a shoe-buckle. In the background two ladies and a man are passing through a narrow door into the theatre itself; through the doorway is seen a section of an upper gallery and boxes below it, both crowded. On the exterior wall, above the heads of the crowd, is a playbill ..."--British Museum online catalogue, description of the related print
Alternative Title:
Porte du parterre
Description:
Title from related print, which bears both the English title "The pit door" and the French title "La porte du parterre"., Unsigned and undated; artist attribution and approximate date from those assigned to the related print in the British Museum catalogue. See no. 6769 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 6., Inscribed on poster in upper center portion of image: By Command of their MAJESTIES. At the Theatre Royal Drury Lane The Grecian Daughter And Euphrasia Mrs Siddons To which will be added The Devil to Pay Tomorrow the Tragedy of Hamlet HAMLET by MR KEMBLE., and Laid down on wove paper with watermark "B. E. & S."
Subject (Geographic):
England and London.
Subject (Name):
Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823., Siddons, Sarah, 1755-1831., and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
Theaters, Crowds, Gates, Doors & doorways, Vomiting, Loss of consciousness, and Signs (Notices)
"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.
"The stage of Covent Garden Theatre is seen from the right with a small part of the pit in the left foreground; the boxes and galleries adjoining the stage form the background on the left. The pittites are standing and blow trumpets, spring rattles, ring bells, and shout. Those in the crowded boxes behave in the same way; with one exception all are men. Two men occupy each of the two boxes over the stage-door; they watch passively. The musicians' seats are empty, but candles burn beside their open music-books, and one of the orchestra stands facing the audience, threatening them with fist and baton. On the stage three men stand together addressing the audience. The man in the centre holds out a paper: 'Riot Act'; he says: "We shall Read the riot act". Behind them stands Kemble wearing a tail-coat and white trousers, appealing to the audience with his hands meekly together as if in prayer. Large notices and placards hang from the galleries and boxes: 'Old Prices' [five times]; 'Harris will but Kemble won,t'; 'No Kembles No more insults'; 'Kemble remember the Dublin Tin Man'; 'No Foreign Sofas'; 'Iohn Bull against Iohn Kemble'; 'No Catalani'; 'Old Prices' [three times]; 'No Italian Private Boxes'; '£6000 for Caterwauling'; 'Catalani', below a print of a cat dressed as a woman, and singing 'Me Yo' from a music-book; 'No Catalani!! Mountain-- Billington, and Dickons for ever'; 'Ol Price for ever No caterwauling'; 'Old Prices No Catalani'; a gigantic placard: 'Statement-- £ Subscribed -- £80-000 Fire Office -- 50-000 Old Materials -- 25-000 155-000 New Theatre ---- 150-000 Managers of it ---- 5-000' Held up by a 'John Bull' in the pit who blows a trumpet: 'No Catalani No Pigeon Holes Old Prices No Private Boxes'. A man shouts from a box: "Off Off Off Off"; he springs a rattle."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Isaac and George Cruikshank in the British Museum catalogue., Date of publication from British Museum catalogue., and Matted to 47 x 54 cm, with a token for a box seat, Prince's side (BPS), New Theatre Covent Garden 1809.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
England and London.
Subject (Name):
Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823., Nares, John, 1754-1816., Billington, Elizabeth, 1765-1818., Catalani, Angelica, 1780-1849., Dickons, Maria, approximately 1774-1833., Harris, Thomas, -1820., Reed, James, active 1808., Mountain, Rosoman, approximately 1768-1841., and Covent Garden Theatre,
Subject (Topic):
Interiors, Stages (Platforms), Actors, Orchestras, Theater audiences, Theaters, and 1809
Caption title., A playbill., For further information, consult library staff., and Annotation on verso: "A great and overflowing audience from box pit and galleries /2 price at 5 to 9 tragedy over 5 past 10 and all concluded by a /4[?] feast eleven o'clock with Mr Roberts at Piazza Pit Room."
Publisher:
E. Macleish, printer, 2, Bow-Street, London
Subject (Name):
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616., Hoare, Prince, 1755-1834., and Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823.
An engraved ticket to the retirement dinner for John Philip Kemble. At the top, a portrait of Kemble's head, irradiated. The text is surrounded by garlands; at the base a banner with a quote from Hamlet "The observed, all observers" woven through a lyre, a mask above
Alternative Title:
Ticket to farewell dinner for John Philip Kemble
Description:
Title from engraved text., Signed: Secretaries., "Not transferable"-- Engraved above mask., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., The farewell dinner was held 27 June 1817 at the Freemasons' Tavern. See the Dictionary of National Biography., and Mounted to sheet 32 x 26 cm with watermark "1821".
