Characters in High Life
Two ladies wearing evening dress move through the New Rooms at London's Opera House, their turbans adorned with expensive ostrich feathers which were then, literally, the height of fashion. The lady at left is tall and handsome and guides a much shorter companion who wears a simpler gown combined with feathers that rise to the same height as those of her companion. The figures have been identified as the celebrated beauty and society hostess Mary Isabella Manners, Duchess of Rutland (1756-1831) who is shown escorting an unmarried daughter, either Lady Elizabeth (who married in 1798) or Lady Katherine (who married in 1800).
Artwork Details
- Title: Characters in High Life
- Artist: James Gillray (British, London 1756–1815 London)
- Publisher: Hannah Humphrey (British, ca. 1745–1819)
- Date: June 20, 1795
- Medium: Hand-colored etching
- Dimensions: Plate: 13 3/4 × 9 13/16 in. (35 × 25 cm)
Sheet: 14 3/8 × 10 5/8 in. (36.5 × 27 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Jill Spalding, 2022
- Object Number: 2022.309.12
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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