The interior of a barber's shop. The barber, ranting and gesticulating wildly, holds up the open tragedy of alexander the great; in his right hand is a pair of tongs. His hair hangs loose and on his head is his barber's basin. He is fashionably dressed, but wears an apron, which, blowing aside in his violent action, displays a large hole in his breeches. A stool, jug, &c, have been overturned, hair-pins lie on the ground, a cat flees in alarm. His little apprentice (left), holding a wig and a tress of hair, looks on with amusement, as do a man and woman (right) who look over a flight of stairs which ascends from the room. The room is a poor one, with plaster coming from the wall, a broken candle on the chimney-piece, over which is a torn print of a tragedy-king reclining on a couch. Two wig-boxes stand on the floor, one inscribed 'tragedy wigs', the other 'comedy wigs'. Mezzotint with some etching. Date: between 1785 and 1790. Dimensions: Height: 345 mm (trimmed); Width: 253 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: David Garrick. Collection: British Museum. Tragedy Burlesqued, or the Barber turned Actor (BM 2010,7081.1376)
Loading...
