King Henry IV

William Shakespeare|Thomas McLean|William Heath ('Paul Pry')|Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham|George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland|Sir William Curtis|Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham

ca. 1827 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints

Heath’s satire mocks George IV and his mistress Elizabeth, Marchioness Conygham, with the title intended to echo a well known work by Henry Fuseli that shows the fat knight Falstaff at the Boar's Head Tavern, canoodling with Doll Tearsheet, in a scene from Shakespeare’s "King Henry IV, part II." The painting was hung in Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery, on Pall Mall in London between 1789 and 1805, and was engraved by William Satchwell Leney (see 42.119.534).

Artist

William Shakespeare|Thomas McLean|William Heath ('Paul Pry')|Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham|George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland|Sir William Curtis|Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham

Date

ca. 1827

Medium

Hand-colored etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, by Exchange, 1970