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The Pit Door / La Porte du Parterre

Publisher Carington Bowles I British
November 9, 1784
Not on view
The struggling crowd hoping to attend the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, demonstrates how strenuous attending a play could be in the eighteenth century. At this time, unreserved seats on benches in the pit cost three shillings, wealthier patrons sat in more expensive boxes above, and ordinary folk climbed to the upper galleries. A poster on the wall indicates that the attraction is Sarah Siddons in a royal command performance of The Grecian Daughter. Siddons had established herself in 1782 as the city’s leading tragedienne, with a dramatic style that stirred up extreme emotions in the audience, and ticket demand for her performances far exceeded supply. This mezzotint droll equates the trials of getting into the theater with the emotional ecstasy anticipated by the audience.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Pit Door / La Porte du Parterre
  • Artist: After Robert Dighton the Elder (British, London ca. 1751–1814 London)
  • Publisher: Carington Bowles I (British, 1724–1793)
  • Date: November 9, 1784
  • Medium: Mezzotint
  • Dimensions: plate: 13 15/16 x 9 15/16 in. (35.4 x 25.3 cm)
    sheet: 16 7/16 x 10 3/4 in. (41.7 x 27.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1969
  • Object Number: 69.584.10
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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I've Got de Monish, Robert Dighton the Elder British, Mezzotint; a reissue
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Bowles & Carver
[1792] reissue 1793 or later
A Hero of the Turf & his Agent
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1806
A View from Jesus College, Oxford
Multiple artists/makers
May 1808
Five in the Morning, Robert Dighton the Elder British, Mezzotint
Five in the Morning
Robert Dighton the Elder
Haines & Son
June 18, 1795
A Knowing One
Robert Dighton the Elder
S. W. Fores
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