King Henry IV
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).
Artwork Details
- Title: King Henry IV
- Artist: William Heath ('Paul Pry') (British, Northumbria 1794/95–1840 Hampstead)
- Publisher: Thomas McLean (British, 1788–1875)
- Subject: George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland (British, London 1762–1830 Windsor)
- Subject: Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham (British, 1769–1861)
- Subject: Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham
- Subject: Sir William Curtis (British, 1752–1829)
- Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
- Date: ca. 1827
- Medium: Hand-colored etching
- Dimensions: Plate: 14 1/2 × 10 1/4 in. (36.8 × 26 cm)
Sheet: 16 15/16 × 11 1/4 in. (43 × 28.5 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, by Exchange, 1970
- Object Number: 1970.541.139
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
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William Heath ('Paul Pry')
S. Gans
1830
William Heath ('Paul Pry')
Thomas McLean
1827–29
Multiple artists/makers
1827–29
William Heath ('Paul Pry')
Thomas McLean
1828–29
William Heath ('Paul Pry')
Thomas McLean
1828
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