Terms and conditions of use
The birth of a princess!!
1796; printed (1821)
Medium
hand-coloured etching
Measurements
31.6 × 46.2 cm (image) 34.9 × 48.4 cm (plate) 36.7 × 49.5 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1946
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
In the 1780s and 1790s, Samuel William Fores quickly established himself as one of London’s leading print publishers specialising in hand-coloured caricatures and satirical prints. Ever the innovator, Fores was among the first to offer folios of caricatures for hire as a form of evening entertainment – a service advertised in the bottom margin of The birth of a princess!! This print, which depicts a group of figures reacting excitedly to the birth of Princess Charlotte of Wales was likely included in one such folio.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Catalogue/s Raisonné
BM Satires 8781
Printing/Publishing
published by S. W. Fores, London
Inscription
printed in ink (below image) l.l.: Woodward Delin
printed in ink (below image) l.c.: The BIRTH of a PRINCESS!! / Pub.d (d in superscript above . ) Jany (y in superscript) 29 1796 by SWFores No (o in superscript) 50 Piccadilly corner of Sackville Street Folios of Caricatures Lent out for the Evening. Prints and Drawings lent out on the plan of Circulating Library
printed in ink (above image) u.r.: Vol.2. Pl.4.
printed in ink (in image) u.l.-c.r.: Huzza ! Huzza ! / no popery ! – rare news for / Old England…(8 inscriptions relating to characters)…I must go an accquaint the / Corporation immediately
Accession Number
1573.28-4
Departments
International Prints / International Prints and Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Humour and Satire
Subjects (specific)
births captions caricatures cartoons (humorous images) men (male humans) princesses women (female humans)
Movements
Georgian