Boxing, which has its origins in antiquity, was revived in England in the eighteenth century and afforded entertainment to all classes of society. A boxing amphitheater opened in London in the Oxford Road in 1743, while the Fives Court in James Street, Haymarket, was patronized in the early nineteenth century by elegant society. George IV himself was a patron of the sport.
Wilson Braddyll, a member of Parliament and a groom of the bedchamber to George IV when the latter was Prince of Wales, was also Richard Humphreys’s manager and promoter. Braddyll must have commissioned the present portrait in 1787, in anticipation of the pugilist’s well-publicized match against Daniel Mendoza, scheduled for January 9, 1788, in Hampshire. The painting was engraved in mezzotint by John Young in a large folio “from the original Picture in the Possession of Wilson Braddyll Esq.r” and was published by Young and Hoppner himself on January 3, six days before the fight (The Met,
69.583; see fig. 1 above).
Humphreys was called the “gentleman boxer” because of his fine looks, manners, and style. Hoppner has taken account of Humphreys’s signature stance in the ring; the boxer is known to have led with his right hand and stopped with his left, which caused his opponents great confusion. Here he is shown without gloves (not worn at the time) and naked to the waist (highly unusual in eighteenth-century portraiture). Humphreys dressed for his bouts in the flannel trousers, white silk stockings, and pumps with black ribbons that Hoppner depicts here. The broad handling and well-defined silhouette of the painting were perhaps calculated for ease of transfer to a reproductive print, the sale of which doubtless produced significant revenues. The picture reads well but has suffered somewhat: the flesh tones show evidence of having been strongly cleaned, and there is quite a lot of wear and retouching in the background.
When the match was held, Humphreys won what by Mendoza’s account was "a severe contest" (Paul Magriel, ed.
The Memoirs of the Life of Daniel Mendoza, London, 1951, p. 32). A grudge existed between the two men, as Humphreys had sponsored Mendoza at the outset of the younger boxer’s career. Mendoza, the public favorite, triumphed in two later matches. It is said that after Humphreys’s retirement from the ring, he lived for some years as a coal merchant in London.
[2010; adapted from Baetjer 2009]
