John Reeve (1799-1838) is seen here as Cupid, in the burlesque Cupid, a great hit at London's Adelphi Theatre in the autumn and winter of 1832. Described on the playbills as 'not a Burlesque Burletta but a Burletta Burlesqued', Cupid featured the bulky comic actor John Reeve, a surprisingly nimble dancer, looking comically incongruent in a short tunic and floral headband. Several different prints were produced at about this time, all depicting him in ' The Grand Ballet' in Cupid, copying the great ballerina Marie Taglioni's recent novel feat of dancing on pointe. She had first done this earlier in 1832 in Paris, in the ballet La Sylphide, and also had a metal prop made on which she appeared to dance on pointe on a flower.

By 1832 John Reeve was an established favourite comedian, making a great success of roles such as Bob Acres in The Rivals and Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer. When he toured in American in 1836, Cupid was on the bill, and a reviewer in The Knickerbocker, or New York Monthly Magazine noted how constantly he kept the audience in fits of laughter, saying: 'His dance 'a la Taglioni', was a curiosity in its way; and indeed in all the extravagant burlesque of character in which he appeared, he made great fun'.