Intended statues for Waterloo Place [graphic] / Marks fect.

[London] : Pubd. J.L. Marks, 28 Fetter Lane, Fleet St., [1821?]

1 print : etching ; plate mark 35.1 x 24.7 cm, on sheet 35.9 x 25.4 cm

wove paper

Sold by London's Dulau and Company to the New York City bookseller Ernest R. Gee in 1928. Earlier ownership by W.E. Gladstone is suggested by a manuscript note from Dulau formerly laid into the front the first volume (now in the object file), which states that "These came from the Gladstone Library at Court Hey, Broad Green. The manuscript notes written below the caricatures are in the handwriting of W.E. Gladstone."

"Two figures, over life-size, on a low pedestal embrace; the King as Bacchus, nude except for a girdle of vine-leaves and grapes, and a wig decked with leaves; Lady Conyngham as Ariadne, a more classic figure, with drapery hanging from the hips. Against the pedestal leans a portfolio: Lady C------s Attitudes Suppressed. A connoisseur (right) gazes up through an eye-glass, saying, Bacchus was the God of Wine and good cheer, his 'favourite was Cxxxxxxm [lightly scored through] Ariadne, she was another mans Wife. Lord Conyngham (left), with antlers sprouting from his forehead, looks up at the statues; he says, Poh! Poh! this is never meant for Bacchus and Ariadne, It's more like my Wife and the * * * * or I'm no Cunning-sure I mean Connoisseur."--British Museum online catalogue.

English

October 02, 2024

Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 10, no. 14260