Visitors to London
During the 18th and early 19th century London received visitors from all over the world who were immortalised in paintings and prints. Some came willingly, others less so. Some performed important diplomatic duties while others were exhibited to feed the public's thirst for novelty. Sometimes both functions were served simultaneously.
The following selection of prints demonstrates both the diversity of overseas visitors during this period, and the range of artists and methods involved in portraying them.
In 1709 the Portuguese ambassador Joaõ Gomes da Silva, Count of Tarouca (1671-1738) resided in London, and was painted by England's pre-eminent portrait painter of the period, Godfrey Kneller.
Joaõ Gomes da Silva, Conde de Tarouca.
G.Kneller S.R Imp. & Angl. Eques Aur. pinx. I. Simon Fecit.
[n.d., c.1715.]
Rare mezzotint. 340 x 250mm, 13¼ x 9¾". Trimmed to image, laid on album paper, some suface wear.
CS: 149, state ii of iii.
[Ref: 19838] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)
The following year, four American Indian representatives visited the court of Queen Anne to forge a military and political alliance came to England on behalf of the Six Nations, and were given two audiences with the Queen. One of these representatives was On Nee Yeath Tow no Riow:
On Nee Yeath Tow no Riow. King of Granajah Hore vulgo King John. J: Faber Fecit & Excud 1710.
Sold by J: Faber near ye Savoy & J King in the Poultry. Lond.n
Mezzotint, extremely scarce; 200 x 150mm (8 x 6").
One of a set of four Indian Kings engraved by John Faber, senior. ' One of the earliest and finest images of early Red Indian Chiefs.
CS: 45
[Ref: 28086] £6,200
Omai, Tahitian who became a cause celèbre, being painted by Reynolds and even having a musical named after him after his visit to England:
Omai, amené en Angleterre par le Cap.ne Furneaux. Pl.15.
Benard Dir.
[n.d. c.1778.]
Engraving. Plate 235 x 184mm. 9¼ x 7¼".
Omai, the first Tahitian to visit England after Cooks second voyage to the South Seas. From 'Voyage dans l'hemisphere austral et autour du monde fait dans les vaisseaux du roi, l'Aventure et la Resolution', first published in Paris in 1778.
In the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal.
[Ref: 26847] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)
Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea (to use his Mohawk name) visited England twice, in the 1770s and 1780s, regarding Iroquois alliances with the British around the time of the American War of Independence. He was famously painted by George Romney (a portrait now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa).
Tayadaneega.
[Brodtmann.]
[Zurich, c.1827.]
Coloured lithograph. 326 x 240mm. 12¾ x 9½". Small chip to lower left corner. From Heinrich Rudolf Schinz's "Naturhistorische Abbildungen der Saeugethiere".
[Ref: 25605] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)
Soon after the establishment of the first British colony in Australia, the Aboriginal Australian Bennelong was forcibly removed from his people taken to live with Governor Phillip, who brought Bennelong to London in 1793. However, although presented in society in the same way as Mai and other visitors, Bennelong did not make the same impact. The publication of the following print suggests not only that Bennelong was not painted by any artists of high calibre, but that he failed to satisfy British expectations of overseas visitors, or adapt permanently to Western culture in the way expected:
Portrait of Bennilong; a native of New Holland, who after experiencing for two years the Luxuries of England, returned to his own Country and resumed all his savage Habits.
[n.d. c.1798.]
Engraving, with large margins. Plate 215 x 165mm. 8½ x 6½".
In the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. See Ref: 15474 for cut version.
[Ref: 26073] £120.00 (£144.00 incl.VAT)
Near the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Spanish ambassador in London was Don Carlos José Gutierrez de los Rios, subject of a handsome mezzotint portrait by Samuel Cousins, one of the best printmakers of his day. Not only did Gutierrez play an important role at the Congress of Vienna, he was also a noted composer. After his time in London, he was an ambassador in Paris, where he died after falling from his horse.
Don Carlos José Gutierrez de los Rios...
Drawn by Henry Grevedon. Engraved by Charles Turner.
London, Published Dec.r 8, 1815 by C. Turner, 50 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square.
Mezzotint. 540 x 375mm. Trimmed to plate, some wear and tears in inscription area.
Whitman 242. Ex: Collection of The Hon. C. Lennox-Boyd.
[Ref: 2841] £230
At the end of the Georgian era Malin Marie Waad, from Lapland, visited London with her sister- unusually, we know nothing about Ms Waad apart from what is recorded on this print. The precision with which her home is described on the print suggests that the island from which she came was the main source of interest in this case:
Maline Marie Waad. A Native of the Norwegian Lapland and an inhabitant of Hammerfest, on Zualoen or Whale Island in the Lat of 70°, 38',28''. This Young Lady in company with her Sister, Madame Aasberg, visited England in 1821, and after a residence of of eight months, sailed from Gravesend, June 21, 1822.
Drawn from Life by M.Gauci. Printed by Hullmandel.
[n.d. c.1825]
Coloured lithograph. Sheet 280 x 215mm. 11 x 8½".
Lithograph by the Maltese printmaker Maxim Gauci (1776-1854), who settled in London in 1809.
[Ref: 18103] £150.00 (£180.00 incl.VAT)
In 1829 Siamese twins Eng and Chang Bunker were exhibited in Bullock's Egyptian Hall on Piccadilly (which held many spectacles to satisfy Londoners' curiosity regarding other lands and cultures. As conjoined twins from the Far East they were the source of much curiosity, and the next print is one of several produced depicting them playing badminton, chess and other pastimes:
The Siamese Youths. (Aged 18.) As now Exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly.
Lithog. by W. Day, 17 Gate Str.t
London, Pub.d by R. Ackermann & Co. 96 Strand, 1.st Dec.r 1829.
Lithograph on india with large margins. India 252 x 184mm. 10 x 7¼".
Eng and Chang Bunker (1811-1874), conjoined siamese twins. When the boys were 17, they joined the Scottish merchant Robert Hunter, who managed a tour in which they displayed themselves, and were examined by doctors across the United States and Europe. In 1832 they realised that their new manager, Captain Coffin, was taking most of their profits, and made a separate arrangement with the circus owner Phineas T Barnum, with whom they toured until 1839.
[Ref: 27300] £190.00 (£228.00 incl.VAT)
Finally, at the nexus of the burgeoning Missionary movement, continuing fascination with the Far East, and the documentation of disability which had long been a field of interest to printmakers and public, is the following rare lithograph of two blind girls, Mary and Lucy Gutzlaff, probably sent to London for educational purposes as were Sessarakoo and Lee Boo before them:
Mary and Lucy Gützlaff.
Johanna Rückert nee Greve. London 1840.
Very scarce lithograph. 495 x 324mm. 19½ x 13¼". Large margins. Staining and foxing. Tears and creases around the margin edges.
Presentation by artist in ink at bottom: "Mrs. Reichardt for the care of Miss..." Karl Gützlaff (1803-1851) was a German missionary to the Far East and notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand and for his books about China; one of the first Protestant missionaries in China to dress like a Chinese. In 1834 Gützlaff married his second wife, Mary Warnstall, who ran a school and home for the blind in Macau. Whilst living in Macau and through the school, they began rescuing and educating blind children and shortly afterwards they sent four blind girls to England for further education; these are probably two of these girls.
[Ref: 20192] £320
Much of the information in this post comes from the documentation on the National Portrait Gallery's Between Worlds exhibition (2007), a valuable resource which we are glad to find still available online.
The following selection of prints demonstrates both the diversity of overseas visitors during this period, and the range of artists and methods involved in portraying them.
In 1709 the Portuguese ambassador Joaõ Gomes da Silva, Count of Tarouca (1671-1738) resided in London, and was painted by England's pre-eminent portrait painter of the period, Godfrey Kneller.
G.Kneller S.R Imp. & Angl. Eques Aur. pinx. I. Simon Fecit.
[n.d., c.1715.]
Rare mezzotint. 340 x 250mm, 13¼ x 9¾". Trimmed to image, laid on album paper, some suface wear.
CS: 149, state ii of iii.
[Ref: 19838] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)
The following year, four American Indian representatives visited the court of Queen Anne to forge a military and political alliance came to England on behalf of the Six Nations, and were given two audiences with the Queen. One of these representatives was On Nee Yeath Tow no Riow:
Sold by J: Faber near ye Savoy & J King in the Poultry. Lond.n
Mezzotint, extremely scarce; 200 x 150mm (8 x 6").
One of a set of four Indian Kings engraved by John Faber, senior. ' One of the earliest and finest images of early Red Indian Chiefs.
CS: 45
[Ref: 28086] £6,200
Omai, Tahitian who became a cause celèbre, being painted by Reynolds and even having a musical named after him after his visit to England:
Benard Dir.
[n.d. c.1778.]
Engraving. Plate 235 x 184mm. 9¼ x 7¼".
Omai, the first Tahitian to visit England after Cooks second voyage to the South Seas. From 'Voyage dans l'hemisphere austral et autour du monde fait dans les vaisseaux du roi, l'Aventure et la Resolution', first published in Paris in 1778.
In the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal.
[Ref: 26847] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)
Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea (to use his Mohawk name) visited England twice, in the 1770s and 1780s, regarding Iroquois alliances with the British around the time of the American War of Independence. He was famously painted by George Romney (a portrait now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa).
[Brodtmann.]
[Zurich, c.1827.]
Coloured lithograph. 326 x 240mm. 12¾ x 9½". Small chip to lower left corner. From Heinrich Rudolf Schinz's "Naturhistorische Abbildungen der Saeugethiere".
[Ref: 25605] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)
Soon after the establishment of the first British colony in Australia, the Aboriginal Australian Bennelong was forcibly removed from his people taken to live with Governor Phillip, who brought Bennelong to London in 1793. However, although presented in society in the same way as Mai and other visitors, Bennelong did not make the same impact. The publication of the following print suggests not only that Bennelong was not painted by any artists of high calibre, but that he failed to satisfy British expectations of overseas visitors, or adapt permanently to Western culture in the way expected:
[n.d. c.1798.]
Engraving, with large margins. Plate 215 x 165mm. 8½ x 6½".
In the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. See Ref: 15474 for cut version.
[Ref: 26073] £120.00 (£144.00 incl.VAT)
Near the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Spanish ambassador in London was Don Carlos José Gutierrez de los Rios, subject of a handsome mezzotint portrait by Samuel Cousins, one of the best printmakers of his day. Not only did Gutierrez play an important role at the Congress of Vienna, he was also a noted composer. After his time in London, he was an ambassador in Paris, where he died after falling from his horse.
Drawn by Henry Grevedon. Engraved by Charles Turner.
London, Published Dec.r 8, 1815 by C. Turner, 50 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square.
Mezzotint. 540 x 375mm. Trimmed to plate, some wear and tears in inscription area.
Whitman 242. Ex: Collection of The Hon. C. Lennox-Boyd.
[Ref: 2841] £230
At the end of the Georgian era Malin Marie Waad, from Lapland, visited London with her sister- unusually, we know nothing about Ms Waad apart from what is recorded on this print. The precision with which her home is described on the print suggests that the island from which she came was the main source of interest in this case:
Drawn from Life by M.Gauci. Printed by Hullmandel.
[n.d. c.1825]
Coloured lithograph. Sheet 280 x 215mm. 11 x 8½".
Lithograph by the Maltese printmaker Maxim Gauci (1776-1854), who settled in London in 1809.
[Ref: 18103] £150.00 (£180.00 incl.VAT)
In 1829 Siamese twins Eng and Chang Bunker were exhibited in Bullock's Egyptian Hall on Piccadilly (which held many spectacles to satisfy Londoners' curiosity regarding other lands and cultures. As conjoined twins from the Far East they were the source of much curiosity, and the next print is one of several produced depicting them playing badminton, chess and other pastimes:
Lithog. by W. Day, 17 Gate Str.t
London, Pub.d by R. Ackermann & Co. 96 Strand, 1.st Dec.r 1829.
Lithograph on india with large margins. India 252 x 184mm. 10 x 7¼".
Eng and Chang Bunker (1811-1874), conjoined siamese twins. When the boys were 17, they joined the Scottish merchant Robert Hunter, who managed a tour in which they displayed themselves, and were examined by doctors across the United States and Europe. In 1832 they realised that their new manager, Captain Coffin, was taking most of their profits, and made a separate arrangement with the circus owner Phineas T Barnum, with whom they toured until 1839.
[Ref: 27300] £190.00 (£228.00 incl.VAT)
Finally, at the nexus of the burgeoning Missionary movement, continuing fascination with the Far East, and the documentation of disability which had long been a field of interest to printmakers and public, is the following rare lithograph of two blind girls, Mary and Lucy Gutzlaff, probably sent to London for educational purposes as were Sessarakoo and Lee Boo before them:
Johanna Rückert nee Greve. London 1840.
Very scarce lithograph. 495 x 324mm. 19½ x 13¼". Large margins. Staining and foxing. Tears and creases around the margin edges.
Presentation by artist in ink at bottom: "Mrs. Reichardt for the care of Miss..." Karl Gützlaff (1803-1851) was a German missionary to the Far East and notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand and for his books about China; one of the first Protestant missionaries in China to dress like a Chinese. In 1834 Gützlaff married his second wife, Mary Warnstall, who ran a school and home for the blind in Macau. Whilst living in Macau and through the school, they began rescuing and educating blind children and shortly afterwards they sent four blind girls to England for further education; these are probably two of these girls.
[Ref: 20192] £320
Much of the information in this post comes from the documentation on the National Portrait Gallery's Between Worlds exhibition (2007), a valuable resource which we are glad to find still available online.
