A Peep at Christie's; -or- Tally-ho, & his Nimeney-pimmeney taking the Morning Lounge.

Size 26cm x 36cm

Originally published by Hannah Humphrey etched by James Gillray from 'The Genuine Works of James Gillray, engraved by himself. Thomas McLean edition on heavy rag-paper from the original copper plates printed 1830.

Like most of Gillray's prints. A Peep at Christies works on many levels. At the most basic visual level, it savours the incongruity of the tall and slim actress, Elizabeth Farren, in the company of the short and pudgy Earl of Derby, and the equally incongrous fashion of the day, the outrageously high plumage of women's hats.

But there are specific references as well. At the time of this print, the sport loving Derby (Tally Ho) had maintained a long term (Platonic) relationship with Miss Farren (known for her role as Nimeney-pimeny in the play, The Heiress) and he was now anticipating the death of his terminally ill wife to consummate the relationship. After five years and three children his wife had run off with the womanizing Duke of Dorset, leading to an acrimonious stalemate between husband and wife in which the Earl refused to divorce her or to allow her contact with their children.

All of this is suggested by the details of the print. Reflecting his sporting interests, Derby gazes intently at a picture of a fox hunt. But this one, appropriately titled "The Death," shows a sportsman celebrating his victory as in fact Derby would do the following year when his wife died and he married Miss Farren three weeks later. At this moment, however, the decorative frame of the painting seems to incorporate an Earl's coronet with horns, a not so subtle allusion to Derby's status as a cuckhold.

Meanwhile, Miss Farren is equally intent on examining a picture of the beautiful courtesan Phryne as she tempts the famously chaste philosopher, Xenocrates. In fact, this is almost certainly unfair to Miss Farren. For although she may be tempting the Earl, it was she who kept the relationship Platonic by refusing to become Derby's mistress and having her mother chaperone her meetings with him. But like the Earl's, her artistic interests reflect her unspoken desires.

And this brings us to the final target of the print. For like the other patrons at Christies who are gazing at Susannah being gazed at by the elders, we too are voyeurs eager for a "peep" at a salacious world that is otherwise forbidden to us. (www.james-gillray.org)