A Peep at Christies;–or–Tally-ho & his Nimeny-pimeney taking the Morning Lounge
Not on view
Gillray here contrasts the short, stout figure of the Earl of Derby with the tall, thin form of his mistress Elizabeth Farren, a leading comic actress associated with London's Drury Lane Theatre. The couple examine pictures in Christies's sale rooms at 125 Pall Mall. She admires "Zenocrates & Phryne" (an ancient philosopher who loved a Greek courtesan), while he inspects a fox hunting scene titled "The Death." Nimeney-Pimeney, mentioned in the title, was a role Farren famously performed in General Burgoyne's play "The Heiress" in 1786. After a liason of about eighteen years, the couple married in 1797 following the death of the Earl's wife.
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