Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the James Gillray Engraving
MS.P.058
MS.P.058
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: James Gillray engraving
Identifier/Call Number: MS.P.058
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.1 linear feet
(1 box)
Date: 1849
Abstract: This collection comprises a single 1849 engraving by James Gillray, entitled "Modern grace, or the operatical finale to the
ballet of Alonzo e caro," with contemporary coloring (London: Bohl) made with original plates from the 1796 printing.
Creator:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head
of Special Collections and Archives.
James Gillray Engraving. MS-P058. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Purchased in 2003.
Processed by Zoe MacLeod, 2012.
James Gillray, born in 1757, was an English caricaturist artist known for his satirical political and social etchings. His
political satires feature such figures as George III and Napoleon and many of his caricatures commented on the French Revolution.
He is thought to be one of the greatest English satirical artists and his style continues to influence political caricatures
today. He died in 1815.
For further information, see
Robert Harding Evans and Thomas Wright.
Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures of James Gillray: comprising a political and humorous history of the
latter part of the reign of George the Third.
(London: G. H. Bohn, 1815).
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises a single 1849 engraving by James Gillray, titled "Modern grace, or the operatical finale to the
ballet of Alonzo e caro," with contemporary coloring (London: Bohl) made with original plates from the 1796 printing. The
Bohm 1849 edition, from which this engraving is taken, collects and reprints all of Gillray's prints from original plates.
The print shows Charles Didelot dancing between two women, both lightly clad in quasi-classical costumes. One of the women,
Mademoiselle Parisot, dances with a breast bare -- this appears to be the reason for the satirical print to have been published.
The ballet was by Onorati from "Les Incas" by Marmontel, and it went through six performances at the Royal Opera House beginning
on 6 April 1796. The dancing of Didelot and his wife caused a sensation both for its brilliance and for its risque costuming.
The verso of this engraving contains another engraving, also by Gillray, entitled
A Peep at Christies, or Tally-ho & his Nimeney-Pimmeney taking the Morning Lounge. This engraving is not colored.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ballet -- History -- Sources.
Ballet dancers.
Dance -- France
Engravings -- Color.