2024-03-28T19:52:12Zhttp://harvester-bl.britishart.yale.edu/oaicatmuseum/OAIHandleroai:tms.ycba.yale.edu:78332024-03-27ycba:pd
YCBA/lido-TMS-7833
http://www.cidoc-crm.org/cidoc-crm/E22_Human-Made_Object
Human-Made Object
300410510
literary theme
300078925
watercolor
300033973
drawing
300033973
Drawing & Watercolor
John Edwin and Mrs. Mary Wells as Lingo and Cowslip in "The Agreeable Surprise"
The Agreeable Surprise
Inscribed in brown ink, on paper label attached to back of original frame: "For this Drawing | Georgina the celebrated and beautiful | Duchess of Devonshire | offered one hundred Guineas. | It is the only Picture for which Edwin | ever sat and such was his reluctance | that it was with great difficulty he was persuaded | to give Mr. Downman the Painter, three | sittings in the course of two years. | The resemblance is perfect. | 29th December1810 - J. S.(?)
signed and dated in black chalk, lower right: "J. Downman | 1787"
500303557
Yale Center for British Art
http://britishart.yale.edu
B1977.14.6154
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110022411
Not on view
Yale Center for British Art
41.3080060, -72.9306282
16 5/16 x 12 5/8 inches (41.4 x 32 cm)
width
cm
32.0
height
cm
41.4
Sheet
7833
300054713
production
John Downman, 1750–1824, British
ycba_actor_256
https://viaf.org/viaf/17497318
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500023543
https://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cz3sh8
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr97017446
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2662652
John Downman
John Dowman
Downman John, 1750–1824
John Downman, 1750–1824
John Downman, 1750–1824
7008750
1064817
British
1750
1824
male
300025103
Artist
genre painter
300025136
painter
300112172
draftsman (artist)
300237351
portrait painter
300111159
British
1787
1787
1787
22
18th century
Watercolor with gouache, black chalk and stumping on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
300053412
stumping
300080058
black chalk
300070114
gouache
300014184
laid paper
300015045
watercolor
The Line of Beauty : British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-05-19 - 2001-08-05)
104
https://britishart.yale.edu/node/690
300054766
exhibition
The Line of Beauty : British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century
Yale Center for British Art
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n77005277
https://viaf.org/viaf/155449049
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500303557
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6352575
British Art Center
Yale Center for British Art
BAC
YCBA
1977
0
300025633
Curator
2001-05-19 - 2001-08-05
2001-05-19
2001-08-05
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n77005277
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500303557
https://viaf.org/viaf/155449049
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6352575
Yale Center for British Art
New Haven
7014210
New Haven
300435424
The eighteenth century in Britain witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of the practice of drawing, among both professional artists and amateurs. This exhibition of one hundred outstanding drawings and watercolors from the Yale Center for British Art celebrated the richness and diversity of its eighteenth century holdings—rivaled only by the great national collections in London—and examined the professional and social roles played by draftsmanship during the period. Among the highlights were works by William Blake, Alexander and John Robert Cozens, Henry Fuseli, Thomas Gainsborough, Allan Ramsay, Paul Sandby, and William Hogarth (whose controversial and innovative theory of the “Line of Beauty” suggested the title for the exhibition). — —
Ranging from large-scale highly finished exhibition watercolors to informal sketches intended for private use and enjoyment, the drawings were arranged in illuminating thematic and contextual groupings: the portrait, landscape, the city, science and natural history, sports and amusements, and the life of the artist. — —
Credits — —
Curated at the Center by Scott Wilcox, Curator of Prints and Drawings, and Gillian Forrester, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, The Line of Beauty also featured drawing manuals and instructional literature of the period, selected from the Center’s rich collection of rare books.
Yale Center for British Art
English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures (Yale Center for British Art, 1979-12-05 - 1980-02-17)
571
300054766
exhibition
English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures
Yale Center for British Art
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6352575
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500303557
https://viaf.org/viaf/155449049
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n77005277
Yale Center for British Art
YCBA
BAC
British Art Center
1977
0
63
Organizer
1979-12-05 - 1980-02-17
1979-12-05
1980-02-17
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n77005277
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500303557
https://viaf.org/viaf/155449049
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6352575
Yale Center for British Art
New Haven
7014210
New Haven
7833
4613045
Fiche B51 YCBA
83292033
4746
300054686
publication event
^Christie's sale catalogue : Choice pictures and drawings of the early English school the property of Mr. E. M. Hodgkins : 29 June 1917^, Christie's, London, p. 7, Lot 29, Fiche B51 YCBA
Yale Center for British Art
0
0
London
7833
4613045
Fiche B51 YCBA
83292033
4745
300054686
publication event
^Christie's sale catalogue : Pictures and drawings the property of Lady Currie deceased also important pictures by old masters and works of the early English school : 30 June 1906^, Christie's, London, p. 4, Lot 8, Fiche B51 YCBA
Yale Center for British Art
0
0
London
7833
3349781
PR2833 .B553 F7 1976 (LC)
01959395
4743
300054686
publication event
Winifred H. Friedman, ^Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery^, New York, 1976, p. 192, fig. 172, PR2833 .B553 F7 1976 (LC)
Yale Center for British Art
Winifred H. Friedman
ycba_actor_14245
Friedman Winifred H.
300025492
Author
Garland Publishing, Inc.
ycba_actor_10970
Garland Publishing, Inc.
300025492
Author
1976
1976
1976
New York
7833
https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/the-life-of-actress-mary-wells/
4073
300054686
publication event
Sarah Murden, ^The Life of Actress, Mary Wells, ^, All Things Georgian, February 22, 2018, https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/the-life-of-actress-mary-wells/
Yale Center for British Art
Sarah Murden
ycba_actor_13124
Murden Sarah
300025492
Author
February 22, 2018
2018
2018
7833
21280
NC772 N66+ (Wall Shelf) (YCBA)
05819347
1523
300054686
publication event
Patrick Noon, ^English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures^, Yale Center for British Art, 1979, pp. 63-65, no. 79, NC772 N66+ (Wall Shelf) (YCBA)
Yale Center for British Art
Patrick Noon, American
ycba_actor_1810
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80005498
Noon Patrick
300025492
Author
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n77005277
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500303557
https://viaf.org/viaf/155449049
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6352575
Yale Center for British Art
300025574
Publisher
1979
1979
1979
7833
4753996
NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA)
47659793
1541
300054686
publication event
Scott Wilcox, ^Line of beauty : British drawings and watercolors of the eighteenth century, ^, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, p. 23, no. 8, NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA)
Yale Center for British Art
Scott Wilcox
ycba_actor_1252
Wilcox Scott
300025492
Author
Gillian Forrester, British
ycba_actor_2052
Forrester Gillian
300025492
Author
Morna O'Neill
ycba_actor_9449
O'Neill Morna
300025492
Author
Kim Sloan
ycba_actor_9431
Sloan Kim
300025492
Author
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n77005277
http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500303557
https://viaf.org/viaf/155449049
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6352575
Yale Center for British Art
300025574
Publisher
2001
2001
2001
New Haven, CT
7833
50361
NJ18 .D7904 W55 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA
01880949
4744
300054686
publication event
George Charles Williamson, ^John Downman, A.R.A : His Life and Works^, Otto limited, London, 1907, pp. xx, xli, xliii, xlviii, pl. 33, NJ18 .D7904 W55 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA
Yale Center for British Art
George Charles Williamson
ycba_actor_8968
Williamson George Charles
300025492
Author
Otto limited
ycba_actor_9670
Otto limited
300025574
Publisher
1907
1907
1907
London
7833
300157782
acquisition
Yale Center for British Art
ycba_actor_1281
YCBA
BAC
Yale Center for British Art
British Art Center
1977
0
300203630
Owner
1977-01-01
1977-01-01
1977-01-01
300138913
gift
Theatre-going was an immensely popular and fashionable leisure activity in eighteenth-century Britain, and from the 1760s this passionate engagement with the dramatic arts was reflected in the enormous output of theatrical portraits, which were widely disseminated through engravings. The multi talented actor-manager and theatre proprietor David Garrick astutely recognized the value of portraits for promoting individual actors and productions, and he played a leading role in the development of the theatrical conversation piece.
John Downman's drawing portrays John Edwin and Mary Wells in their roles as Lingo and Cowslip in John O'Keeffe's three-act comedy, The Agreeable Surprise. The play was immensely successful, and between its opening at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in 1781 and 1800 it was performed more than 200 times. The comic actor John Edwin (1749-90) made his first professional appearance in 1775 and was most famous for his role as Lingo. Edwin was as celebrated for his singing as his acting; according to the manager-playwright, George Colman, "While he sung in a style which produced roars of laughter, there was a melody in some of the upper tones of his voice that was beautiful." The inscription on the original frame is somewhat misleading, since at least eighteen engraved portraits of Edwin after various artists are known. Mary Wells, née Davies (c. 1759-before 1826), was born in Birmingham and preformed in regional theaters before making her London acting debut in 1781. Constantly in debt and involved in amorous intrigue, the raffish actress conformed to the popular notion of her profession as dissolute and unrespectable, an image which the many portraits of Garrick - who assiduously cultivated himself as a model of social propriety - strove to contradict. --- ---
Gillian Forrester --- ---
Wilcox, Forrester, O'Neil, Sloan. The Line of Beauty: British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2001. pg. 23 cat. no. 8
7833
300111999
Published catalog entry
ycba_actor_2052
Gillian Forrester
300025492
Author
2001-05
300046106
ycba_term_37964
hat
300046161
ycba_term_37992
gown
300025928
ycba_term_35274
man
300014668
ycba_term_111219
ribbons
300203596
ycba_term_146657
bowl
300025943
ycba_term_35295
woman
300056179
ycba_term_650
gesture
300210059
ycba_term_44072
cravat
300046049
ycba_term_37933
wig
300046143
ycba_term_37986
coat
300253712
ycba_term_47142
ruffles
300008694
ycba_term_32367
sea
300054148
ycba_term_7529
theater (discipline)
ycba_term_2036503
curls
300025658
ycba_term_2036810
actress
ycba_term_2046880
literary theme
300025658
ycba_term_34803
actor
Wells [née Davies; other married name Sumbel], Mary Stephens (1762–1829), actress
221111508
ycba_term_2045496
Wells [née Davies; other married name Sumbel], Mary Stephens (1762–1829), actress
Lingo (character in The Agreeable Surprise)
ycba_term_2042723
Lingo (character in The Agreeable Surprise)
Cowslip (character in The Agreeable Surprise)
ycba_term_2042724
Cowslip (character in The Agreeable Surprise)
Edwin, John, the elder (1749–1790), actor and singer
https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/8570
ycba_term_2045508
Edwin, John, the elder (1749–1790), actor and singer
play
ycba_term_43246
The Agreeable Surprise, play by John O'Keeffe, 1781
ycba_term_2042722
Christie's sale catalogue : Choice pictures and drawings of the early English school the property of Mr. E. M. Hodgkins : 29 June 1917, Christie's, London, p. 7, Lot 29, Fiche B51 YCBA
4613045
Fiche B51 YCBA
83292033
4746
related to
Christie's sale catalogue : Pictures and drawings the property of Lady Currie deceased also important pictures by old masters and works of the early English school : 30 June 1906, Christie's, London, p. 4, Lot 8, Fiche B51 YCBA
4613045
Fiche B51 YCBA
83292033
4745
related to
Winifred H. Friedman, Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, New York, 1976, p. 192, fig. 172, PR2833 .B553 F7 1976 (LC)
3349781
PR2833 .B553 F7 1976 (LC)
01959395
4743
related to
Sarah Murden, The Life of Actress, Mary Wells, , All Things Georgian, February 22, 2018, https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/the-life-of-actress-mary-wells/
https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/the-life-of-actress-mary-wells/
4073
related to
Patrick Noon, English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures, Yale Center for British Art, 1979, pp. 63-65, no. 79, NC772 N66+ (Wall Shelf) (YCBA)
21280
NC772 N66+ (Wall Shelf) (YCBA)
05819347
1523
related to
Scott Wilcox, Line of beauty : British drawings and watercolors of the eighteenth century, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, p. 23, no. 8, NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA)
4753996
NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA)
47659793
1541
related to
George Charles Williamson, John Downman, A.R.A : His Life and Works, Otto limited, London, 1907, pp. xx, xli, xliii, xlviii, pl. 33, NJ18 .D7904 W55 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA
50361
NJ18 .D7904 W55 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA
01880949
4744
related to
300055603
500303557
Yale Center for British Art
https://britishart.yale.edu
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
300055598
Public Domain
300435434
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
7833
300133025
Item
500303557
Yale Center for British Art
http://britishart.yale.edu
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:7833
oai:tms.ycba.yale.edu:7833
https://manifests.collections.yale.edu/v2/ycba/obj/7833
https://manifests.collections.yale.edu/ycba/obj/7833
IIIF manifest
Yale Center for British Art
500303557
Yale Center for British Art