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Mrs. Robinson as Perdita

Subject William Shakespeare British
ca. 1779
Not on view
This lovely young woman seated in a park, fingering a spindle wound with thread and accompanied by her dog, is Mary Robinson. When she performed the role of Perdita in an adaption of Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale," staged by David Garrick in 1779, George, Prince of Wales fell in love with her, and she became his mistress for two years.
The artist Cosway enjoyed a long career as a fashionable society portraitist and worked in a range of media. Here he uses watercolor for a small full length image that suggestively links the subject's life on and off the stage--Robinson is seated in an English landscape, but rustic elements of her gown and her spindle refer to her stage identity as Perdita, the adopted daughter of shepherds loved by a prince.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mrs. Robinson as Perdita
  • Artist: Richard Cosway (British, Oakford, Devon 1742–1821 London)
  • Sitter: Mary "Perdita" Robinson (British, 1758–1800)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Date: ca. 1779
  • Medium: Graphite, blue chalk, and watercolor, with touches of gouache (bodycolor)
  • Dimensions: oval sheet: 7 13/16 x 6 in. (19.9 x 15.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Alexandrine Sinsheimer, 1958
  • Object Number: 59.23.21
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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