Mrs Gibbs as Cowslip
The actress Maria Gibbs appears here as Cowslip in O'Keefe's comic opera "The Agreeable Surprise" (staged first in 1781 with music by Samuel Arnold). Wearing a straw bonnet and carrying a bowl of milk to identify her character as a milkmaid, Gibbs specialized in comic parts. A review in the "Monthly Mirror" in August 1800 noted "in consequence of the secession of Mrs. Stephen Kemble, she has deservedly occupied all characters of tender simplicity and unaffected elegance." Cruikshank's print was made to illustrate Kenrick's "The British Stage and Literary Cabinet."
Artwork Details
- Title: Mrs Gibbs as Cowslip
- Series/Portfolio: The British Stage and Literary Cabinet, vol. I
- Artist: George Cruikshank (British, London 1792–1878 London)
- Sitter: Maria Gibbs (British, ca. 1770–ca. 1854)
- Author: Related dramatist John O'Keefe (Irish, 1747–1833)
- Author: Related author Thomas Kenrick (British, active 1817–22)
- Date: October 1818
- Medium: Etching, hand-colored
- Dimensions: Sheet: 6 9/16 × 4 1/16 in. (16.6 × 10.3 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.756-1756
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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