High Committee, or, Operatical Contest, William Dent, 1791

The managers of the two rival opera houses (the pantheon and the king's theatre the haymarket), stripped to the waist, are engaged in a pugilistic encounter, their respective backers behind them. 'mr o'r' (o'reilly), much the larger of the two, faces 'mr t------' (taylor). The belt of the former's breeches is inscribed 'real irish', that of the latter 'lingham's elastic'. Behind taylor are his bottle-holder, sheridan ('mr s------'), holding a bottle inscribed 'sherry', and the prince of wales ('the p-------'), wearing a hat with three feathers and the motto 'ich dien'. Behind them and on the extreme right stands the chancellor, thurlow, holding a paper inscribed 'equity', with mrs. Fitzherbert by his side. Behind o'reilly stand lady salisbury, holding a bottle inscribed 'wiskey', and her husband, the lord chamberlain, with his wand of office ('l---d & l---y s------'); he holds a string attached to the nose of the king who stands with queen charlotte on the extreme left. Under o'reilly's feet is a music-book: 'stoney batter'. Behind the two parties are buildings symbolizing the two opera houses (resembling stage-boxes); between them a street recedes in perspective: on the roofs of the corner houses stand two cats miaowing at each other. On the left is the 'pantheon opera', showing three half length figures performing: on the extreme right mme. Mara sings seated (cf. Bmsat 7067), her hands meeting at her waist; next her is a vocalist wearing a feathered helmet, probably pacchierotti, and on the left is a violinist. Below is the inscription 'rehearsal gratis'. On the right is the 'haymarket opera' with half length figures: a man plays a hurdy-gurdy which is slung to his shoulders, a goose hisses; a man (? david) sings in an attitude resembling that of mme. Mara; a man leans out of the box, in profile to the left, holding out his hat, and saying, "by cot my poetic fame will support de house vidout von bit of stone". He resembles the (?) alfieri of bmsat 6315. (alfieri made his fourth visit to england in 1791, arriving in april. 'vita', 1807, ii. 202. ) c. October 1791 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1791. Dimensions: Height: 245 mm; Width: 349 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Vittorio Alfieri. Collection: British Museum. High Committee, or, Operatical Contest (BM 1868,0808.6010)