Blue and Buff Loyalty

December 31, 1788
Not on view
Half-length portraits of Dr. Francis Willis and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, repeated twice. One couple is inscribed "Sunday," and the other "Saturday." On Sunday, an outside inquirer asks, "Doctor, how is your Patient to Day." Dr. Willis answers, "Better thank God," while Sheridan exclaims, "Damnation." On Saturday, an outside inquirer asks the same question, and Dr. Willis responds, "Rather worse - Sir -" to which Sheridan says, "Ha - ha - rare news."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Blue and Buff Loyalty
  • Artist: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Publisher: S. W. Fores (London)
  • Subject: Francis Willis, D.D., M.D. (British, 1718–1807)
  • Subject: Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Irish, Dublin 1751–1816 London)
  • Date: December 31, 1788
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 9 in. × 13 7/8 in. (22.8 × 35.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.533.278
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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