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Print Collection
unknown - Enlarge image
Print Collection
- Object:
Print
- Date:
ca. 1842 (printed)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Colour lithograph on paper
- Credit Line:
Gabrielle Enthoven Collection
- Museum number:
S.210-2008
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This print probably depicts the curtain-call of a Victorian entertainment about the life of the great Regency clown Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837). The presence of the two ladies on stage, one at the piano and the other with her words or music, indicate that this took place in a small theatre such as London's Gallery of Illustration. It could not have been there however if the number 42 in the print refers to 1842 since the Gallery of Illustration in Regent Street did not open until 1849.
Joseph Grimaldi established himself after 1806 as the greatest pantomime clown of all time, ousting Harlequin as the central figure of pantomime. He was a singer, accomplished dancer, amazing acrobat and serious pantomimist. He had true comic genius and appeared on stage in a variety of guises, making speedy transformations. This print shows three characters dressed in Grimaldi's typical flounced red and white clown suit, and also features four other characters with his characteristic red and white make-up - the type of characters that Grimaldi played with great comical success.
