Fäsch, Johann Ludwig Wernhard. Mrs. Hopkins and Mr. Garrick in the characters of Queen Gertrude and Hamlet

Folger bibliographic ID: 258080
Folger call number: PR 3343 C3 Cage vol.2
Folger holdings ID: 341179

General notes

This record contains unverified data from old cards and may contain incorrect or incomplete text. Please consult Curator for assistance Title in ink at base of drawing. Garrick is pictured at right, in black, affecting the 'Garrick start' to left. Mrs. Hopkins stands at left, profiled to right, her right hand on Garrick's scarf. A chair is pictured, at left, behind Mrs. Hopkins skirt. The paint on the skirt is slightly abraided. Drawing is a vignette. The vellum has been inlaid to wove paper. Unsigned Artist: Faesch has been credited as the artist of a series of small theatrical portraits published by Robert Sayer in monograph form: 'Dramatic characters or different portraits of the English stage'. London: printed for Robt. Sayer ... and Jno. Smith. 15 Jan. 1770. This drawing, though unsigned is similar in style, medium, execution and labeling to a series of 13 drawings on vellum in the FSL collection attributed to Faesch, all of which are similar to the portraits found in Dramatic characters (ART Vol. d94) Faesch was a Swiss minaturist who is noted in Hedgcock's 'David Garrick and his French friends' as sending Garrick portraits of the actors of the Comedie Francais and coming to England to paint the Garricks History: Image in not engraved in FSL copies of Dramatic characters and is not listed under Hopkins or Garrick in 'Harv. cat. of Eng. dram. ports.'. Dramatic characters was issued in 1770 with 25 plates, some dated 1769. A second edition was published in 1773 with 13 additional plates and in 1773 Faesch put out a similar series of portraits of French actors. All of the FSL copies of the English work vary but none include the Garrick and Hopkins portrait though it is probable that it was intended to be engraved but never made its way into the printed volume. FSL has another watercolor of the same subject and pose which varies slightly in color and in the size of the figures and does not include the chair (ART Vol d94 no.93d). This other watercolor is found in a volume of illustrations which includes six other drawings for the Dramatic character series as well as 7 drawings of French actors in their roles, all of which are attributed to Faesch (ART Vol. d94 no.93a-f,107a,92a-g). FSL also has a volume of line drawings of actors and soldiers which are similar in style and were probably done by Faesch (ART Vol. c24). It has been noted that some of the portraits in Dramatic characters are taken after paintings by Johann Zoffany. The depiction of Hopkins and Garrick, however has not been traced to a Zoffany portrait. The Harvard Theatre Collection has six similar drawings on vellum by Faesch (see The Georgian Playhouse, 1975, entry no.45, PN 2593 G3). The ART Vol. d94 copy of the Hopkins/Garrick port. was reproduced under the Hopkins entry in Highfill's Biographical dictionary Subject: Drawing depicts Act III, Sc. 4 of Hamlet in which Hamlet sees the ghost of his father in his mother's bedchamber. Elizabeth Hopkins (1731-1801) who was engaged at Drury Lane from 1761 until her retirement in 1796, is pictured as the Queen Provenance: Drawing is housed in the 2nd volume of a two volume set of tracts by and about Theophilus Cibber which has been extra-illustrated. The collection was put together by Isaac Reed and added to by George Daniel. Daniel was probably responsible for adding the Faesch drawing as he can be connected to the compilation of ART Vol. d94, the other volume containing Faesch drawings in the FSL. The Cibber tracts were purchased by the Folgers from Dobell, April 1916 cat. no.252. The Dobell catalogue entry notes the drawing and its relation to the Dramatic characters series (cs.693). Drawing is inserted before 'An epistle from Mr. Theophilus Cibber to David Garrick, esq Published Work: Dramatic characters, or different portraits of the English stage. London : printed for Robt. Sayer ... and Jno. Smith, 1770

Extended title: Mrs. Hopkins and Mr. Garrick in the characters of Queen Gertrude and Hamlet [Jean-Louis Faesch]

Actors Garrick, David, 1717-1779 Hopkins, Elizabeth Barton, 1731-1801 Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Hamlet

artist: Fäsch, Johann Ludwig Wernhard, approximately 1738-1778
depiction: Garrick, David, 1717-1779
depiction: Hopkins, Elizabeth Barton, 1731-1801
former owner: Daniel, George, 1789-1864
former owner: Reed, Isaac, 1742-1807