Not currently on display at the V&A

Print

ca.1877-1895 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Colour lithograph from a drawing by Alfred Bryan showing the actor/manager Sir Henry Irving as Richard III.

Henry Irving first played the role of Richard III in January 1877. He played him as a blustering bully or, as Clement Scott described it: 'a truculent tyrant, who stamped about the stage in scarlet doublet and flapping russet boots, and black ringlet wig and bushy eyebrows, supposed to symbolize in their hue the darkness of his deeds of villainy'. Scott thought his Richard was Irving's greatest triumph as an actor: 'intelligent, carefully wrought and convincing'.

The caption, 'Mr. Henry Irving', indicates that the lithograph shows Irving when he first played the role, before he received his knighthood in 1895, and therefore before the revival of Richard III at the Lyceum Theatre in 1896.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Printing ink on paper
Brief description
Lithograph of the actor/manager Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) as Richard III from a drawing by Alfred Bryan
Physical description
Colour lithograph from a drawing by Alfred Bryan showing the actor/manager Sir Henry Irving as Richard III. Full length caricature image showing Irving in profile, creeping to the left. He is dressed in a brown tunic, gloves and a cap with an exaggerated peak. A castle with a central portcullis is visible in the background.


Dimensions
  • Height: 29.5cm
  • Width: 22.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'A.B.' (Artist's initials, printed, lower right hand corner)
  • 'MR. HENRY IRVING AS "KING RICHARD III"' (Printed caption, at base of image)
  • 'BEN. GEORGE. LITH. LONDON' (Printer's name, printed, lower right hand corner)
Credit line
Gabrielle Enthoven Collection
Subject depicted
Literary referenceRichard III
Summary
Colour lithograph from a drawing by Alfred Bryan showing the actor/manager Sir Henry Irving as Richard III.

Henry Irving first played the role of Richard III in January 1877. He played him as a blustering bully or, as Clement Scott described it: 'a truculent tyrant, who stamped about the stage in scarlet doublet and flapping russet boots, and black ringlet wig and bushy eyebrows, supposed to symbolize in their hue the darkness of his deeds of villainy'. Scott thought his Richard was Irving's greatest triumph as an actor: 'intelligent, carefully wrought and convincing'.

The caption, 'Mr. Henry Irving', indicates that the lithograph shows Irving when he first played the role, before he received his knighthood in 1895, and therefore before the revival of Richard III at the Lyceum Theatre in 1896.
Collection
Accession number
S.928-2012

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Record createdOctober 4, 2012
Record URL
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