From Soho

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg|R. Sayer and J. Bennett

December 26, 1776 · Etching; third state · Drawings and Prints

Loutherbourg moved to London from Paris in 1771 and worked for David Garrick at the Drury Lane Theatre, introducing transformative set designs and lighting effects. During this busy decade he produced "Caricatures of the English," perhaps intending them for the French market. This example centers on a thin woman wearing a voluminous cap and shoes supported by spiked heels. Henry Angelo identified her in his memoirs as a "lady abbess" (slang for a brothel keeper whose "house" in Soho would have been close to London's major theaters).The set of caricatures was in fact only published in London, first by Torre & Co. in 1775 (Giovanni Battista Torre was a friend of the artist who had traveled with him to England), reissued soon afterward by Sayer & Bennett in 1776, and a third time in 1790 by William Holland.

Artist

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg|R. Sayer and J. Bennett

Date

December 26, 1776

Medium

Etching; third state

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962