[Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).

[Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE). < >
  • Another image of [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).
  • Another image of [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).
  • Another image of [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).
  • Another image of [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).
  • Another image of [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).
  • Another image of [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. by (DANCE).

~ [Five hand-coloured etched prints]. London 1782-1817.

[GILLRAY, James] The German Dancing Master. London: H[annah] Humphrey, April 5 1782. (188 × 242 mm, sheet size 215 ×272 mm). Closed tear (c. 120 mm) to lower portion, neat old repair to verso, visible as a single line to recto. BM Satires, 6096.
A dancing-master with a fiddle, said to be Jansen, the German ‘maître de ballet’ in London, instructs a fashionably-dressed young male pupil, whose moves are not elegant. A younger boy looks on. The imprint and initials are of Hannah Humphrey, one of the leading London printsellers, who published much of Gillray’s work and was his protector in later life.
The Devonshire Minuet. London: William Holland, May 29 1813. (236 ×320 mm). Cut to plate mark. Two closed tears towards the foot, both with expert and unobtrusive old repairs. BM Satires, 12052.
The debutante Princess Charlotte (daughter of George, Prince of Wales, later George IV, and Princess Caroline) dances with the young William Duke of Devonshire (son of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and Lady Georgiana). Charlotte’s appearance in society after an adolescence of jealously guarded solitude, caused a sensation in London and her appearance at balls was widely reported and discussed. A tragic figure, she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1816 and died the following year in childbirth. This is a light-hearted, sympathetic and uncaricatured depiction, showing approving ladies and gentlemen grouped on either side.
WILLIAMS, Charles. Dos a Dos or Rumpti iddity ido. Natural Accidents in practising Quadrille Dancing. London: S.W. Fores, May 1817. (250 × 355 mm, sheet size 280 × 405 mm), marked ‘No 1’ in upper margin. Two tears towards the foot, both with neat old repairs, the second being to lower right corner with small (replaced) loss to the blank margin. BM Satires, 12933. Apparently an adaptation of an earlier print by Cruikshank.
― Wrong-Contre or Vis a Vis. Natural Accidents in Practising Quadrille Dancing. London: S.W. Fores, May 1817. (240 × 350 mm, cut to plate mark), marked No. 2 in upper margin. Lightly browned. BM Satires, 12934.
― Les Graces de Chesterfield. Or Quadrille Dancing – pour la Pratique. London: S.W. Fores, May 1817. (240 × 350 mm, sheet size 260 × 380 mm), marked No 3 in upper margin, early price stamp 1d to lower margin. BM Satires, 12935.
Three of an original set of four rare Williams caricatures (the fourth was entitled Le Moulinet, or practising Quadrille Dancing at Home). The Quadrille was the dance craze of the 1817 season and entailed considerable practice, even among seasoned dancers. Numerous guides were printed and dancing masters offered tuition, evidently with mixed success.

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