Henry William Bunbury Drawing his "Long Minuet"
This portrait of Bunbury, a successful gentleman-caricaturist, is based on a pastel that Lawrence showed at the Royal Academy in 1788 (no. 61, "Portrait of a Gentleman", now National Portrait Gallery, London). The younger son of a baronet, Bunbury showed drawings of humorous and poetic subjects at the Royal Academy as an "honorary exhibitor"–an indication that his submissions were not for sale. He etched a few designs himself around 1770, then relied on professionals to transform his designs into published prints.This early working proof has unfinished passages, and lacks engraved text. Bunbury is shown drawing "The Long Minuet at Bath," a humorous image with a novel format that was engraved in stipple by Thomas Ryder, and published by William Dickinson in 1787, on four joined sheets of paper.
Artwork Details
- Title: Henry William Bunbury Drawing his "Long Minuet"
- Engraver: Thomas Ryder I (British, 1746–1810)
- Artist: After Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, Bristol 1769–1830 London)
- Publisher: Simon Watts (British, active London 1767–87)
- Publisher: Thomas Ryder I (British, 1746–1810)
- Sitter: Henry William Bunbury (British, Mildenhall, Suffolk 1750–1811 Keswick, Cumberland)
- Date: 1789
- Medium: Stipple engraving and etching; working proof
- Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed): 17 1/8 × 11 7/8 in. (43.5 × 30.2 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of the Guild of Book Workers, 1960
- Object Number: 60.718.4
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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