[Scene from Shakespeare, Merry wives of Windsor] [graphic]

[England] : circa 1825-1830.

1 item ; sheet 18 x 23; image 125 x 9.6 cm

Ms. Page, Ms. Quickly, and William. Sir Hughes Evans questioning him “in his residence."
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.

Great Britain -- England, -- production place.

272765

From dealer's description: "69 [SHAKESPEARE]. SMIRKE, Robert. ‘MS PAGE, QUICKLY, WILLIAM & SIR HUGH EVANS QUESTIONING HIM “IN HIS RESIDENCE”. MERRY WIVES ACT IV. SC.1.’ Preliminary pen and sepia sketch. [Circa 1825-1830]. £ 750 Pen, ink and wash on wove paper [sheet 18 x 23; image 125 x 9.6 cm], inscribed by Robert Smirke with the title of the scene and initialled by him in the lower right corner ‘R.S.’ The work is very probably a preliminary finished sketch produced by Robert Smirke for both the painting, and eventual engraving that was to appeared in The Amulet of 1830. There are some key differences between what is depicted here and what was the eventual result. Smirke was commissioned to produce twenty six paintings for Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery in 1789 including one for a scene from Act IV Scene I of The Merry Wives of Windsor but he clearly completely re-imagined the scene quite differently thirty years or so later. Comparing our sketch with both the oil painting, now held with the Royal Shakespeare Company Collection, and the engraving, carried out by James Goodyear, there are several significant changes. The bird cage in our sketch has disappeared and a cat added, also the portrait on the wall changes from a lady to a gentleman and moved to a more central position, a curtain mantel was added to the window in the later version too but probably more interesting is Smirke’s changes in the attitudes of the four figures from those that he finally decided on. In this later version Mistress Quickly’s pose is softened, as indeed is Sir Hugh Evans’, as he appears rather stern in the earlier version and consequently the boy William Page looks rather more startled in that version, than cowed. Indeed, Mistress Margaret Page looked rather quizzical originally whereas in the later version she appears encouraging. One wonders why Smirke decided on these changes on the final result after this sketch was completed. Did editor Samuel Carter Hall, who commissioned the work for his ‘Annual’ have a hand in the alterations? He was a rather sanctimonious creature by all accounts and would certainly have given on views of anything appearing in The Amulet. When the illustration appeared in print it was described as ‘The Pedagogue. Engraved by R. Goodyear; from a Painting by R. Smirke, R.A., in the possession of W. Daniell, R.A.’, so evidently the painting that was finally worked up from the later drawing, had already been sold to William Daniell. The painting eventually came into the hands of theatre manager Elliot Galer, who, on his death, gifted it to the Royal Shakespeare Company. Robert Smirke R.A. (1753-1845) painter and illustrator: ‘Smirke built his reputation on early commissions for paintings with literary themes and contemporary subjects such as Recovery of a Young Man Believed Drown after Resuscitation by Dr. Hawes and Young Man Lifted from the River Apparently Drowned (both 1787; engraved by R. Pollard, Guildhall Art Gallery, London). For John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery he painted scenes from plays that were engraved for numerous publications, including The Picturesque Beauties of Shakespeare (1783–7) and A collection of prints from pictures for the purpose of illustrating the dramatic works of Shakespeare by the artists of Great Britain (1805). Smirke’s association with Shakespeare would be enduring; his output was prolific and proved tremendously popular. Illustrations to Shakespeare by Robert Smirke R.A., containing over forty engravings after Smirke, was published in 1821, 1822, and 1825. Smirke mostly painted in oil or in grisaille and he frequently produced works on a small format to facilitate their reproduction as engravings. His style is notable for its flowing, refined drawing, and his use of characterization is typically expressive, revealing playful humour or drama. The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, holds fifteen of his paintings, including The Awakening of King Lear (c.1792, engraved by A. Smith, 1792), in addition to two original wash drawings, Lady Macbeth Sleepwalking and Falstaff Thrown into the Thames (engraved by C. Taylor and published in The Picturesque Beauties of Shakespeare). The Royal Shakespeare Theatre Gallery, Stratford upon Avon, has paintings by Smirke of scenes from Much Ado about Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Henry IV. The Seven Ages of Man (exh. RA, 1798; engraved by R. Thew, 1801), seven canvases illustrating act ii, scene vii of As You Like It, are at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. At the Shakspeare Gallery sale on 18 May 1805 these works sold for the large sum of 240 guineas, fetching more than major works by Benjamin West and James Northcote and out-priced only by Reynolds.’ [ODNB]" Ordered from Pickering & Chatto, D9677, 2023-08-08, Cat. 811 'Summer Miscellany", item #69

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