1title: Thomas Rowlandson Vaux-Hall - Dr. Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Mary Robinson, et al
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: 28 June 1785
source: LOC|ppmsca.05671 Published by J.R. Smith, No. 83 Oxford Street, London
credit: This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division
under the digital ID ppmsca.05671.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.description: In the supper-box on the left we see, reading left to right, James Boswell, Mrs Thrale (who appears twice), Dr. Johnson, and Oliver Goldsmith.
The ‘macaroni’ Captain Edward Topham (scandalmonger to The World) is quizzing Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Lady Duncannon (Sheridan’s Lady Bessborough), watched by a naval figure with an eye patch and a wooden leg (not included in the Mellon version), always called Admiral Paisley, but Paisley did not lose his leg and eye until 1st June 1794, so it cannot be him. To the left of him, a young girl (a young boy in the Mellon version) holding the hand of a man who could be the comic actor, William Parsons, or rowlandson’s friend Jack Bannister.
Peering at the two ladies from behind a tree is a figure traditionally, though improbably, identified as Sir Henry Bate-Dudley, the ‘Fighting Parson’, editor of the Morning Herald; he is more likely to be Thomas Tyers (son of Jonathan Tyers the great entrepreneur and proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens from 1729 until 1767) who stands next to the Scotsman James Perry, editor of the London Gazette. The couple on their right could well be the artist himself and his current girlfriend. and to the right of them stands the actress Mary ‘Perdita’ Robinson, with her husband on her right and the Prince of Wales (later George IV) on her left.
Looking up at the singer, the couple on the extreme left, have been identified as the actress Miss Hartley, in company with one of her many admirers, possibly Mr. Colman, but, suggested by their position apart from the crowd, they could also be members of the Tyers family (most likely Jonathan jr. and his wife Margaret, or their son-in-law Bryant Barrett and his wife Elizabeth. The large lady seated at the table on the right is Mrs Barry, the old Madam of Sutton Street, Soho, with two of her customers and one of her girls.
In the orchestra, we can see Jacob Nelson, the tympanist, who had played at Vauxhall since 1735, and died there after fifty years' performing, Mr Fisher on oboe, probably Hezekiah Cantelo and Mr. Sargent on trumpet, and Barthélemon, the leader, who retired in 1783. James Hook, the composer, organist, musical director and prolific song-writer, may be seen between Barthelemon and the singer, the 38-year-old Frederika Weichsell, who was rowlandson’s next-door neighbour in Church Street, and the mother of Mrs. Elizabeth Billington. Elizabeth had just (aged 18) married James Billington, a double-bass player, in 1783, much against her parents’ wishes.
A number of those present in this scene had already died by the time rowlandson produced the painting, and the affaire between the Prince and Perdita Robinson was already over.
Although there is no direct evidence for this, it seems likely, because of the dating, and because of the central position of the singer, that the painting was created by rowlandson as a retirement gift for Frederika Weichsel, whether from him personally, or specially commissioned by the proprietors of the gardens.license:Public domain
2title: Thomas Rowlandson Spanish Inquisition - Google Art Project
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: undated
dimensions: w216 x h140 cm
current location: en|Not on View Yale Center for British Art
credit: zgGJyT04LDW0RQ at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
license:Public domain
3title: Thomas Rowlandson Gardening - Google Art Project
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: undated
dimensions: w179 x h121 cm
current location: en|Not on View Yale Center for British Art
credit: IwHbtBoKxkNSAw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
license:Public domain
4title: Thomas Rowlandson Comforts of Bath- Coaches Arriving - Google Art Project
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: 1798
dimensions: w214 x h143 cm
current location: en|Not on View Yale Center for British Art
credit: jgH4Enc_sWjxow at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
license:Public domain
5title: Thomas Rowlandson A Park Scene - Google Art Project
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: undated
dimensions: w176 x h156 cm
current location: en|Not on View Yale Center for British Art
credit: dwGiIo4jrMT4vQ at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
license:Public domain
6title: Thomas Rowlandson The Connoisseurs - Google Art Project
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: circa 1790
dimensions: w313 x h235 cm
current location: en|Not on View Yale Center for British Art
credit: HAHdnhgNnxiwEA at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
license:Public domain
7title: Thomas Rowlandson A Group of Trees - Google Art Project
artist: Thomas rowlandson
date: undated
dimensions: w495 x h325 cm
current location: en|Not on View Yale Center for British Art
credit: wQE5pwgRWAMeqw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
license:Public domain
8title: Rowlandson "Undertaker and Quack" Wellcome L0000193
artist: unknown
source: link * Gallery: link * Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): link [link CC-BY-4.0]
credit: link Gallery: link Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): link CC-BY-4.0
description:
"Undertaker and Quack"
General Collections
Keywords: caricature; Thomas rowlandsonlicense:
CC BY 4.0
9title: Rowlandson "A little bigger" Wellcome L0000198
artist: unknown
source: link * Gallery: link * Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): link [link CC-BY-4.0]
credit: link Gallery: link Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): link CC-BY-4.0
description:
A little bigger
General Collections
Keywords: caricature; Thomas rowlandsonlicense:
CC BY 4.0
title: Rowlandson "The Cobblers Cure" Wellcome L0000204
artist: unknown
source: link * Gallery: link * Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): link [link CC-BY-4.0]
credit: link Gallery: link Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02): link CC-BY-4.0
description:
The Cobblers Cure
General Collections
Keywords: caricature; Thomas rowlandsonlicense:
CC BY 4.0
