a rare mezzotint portrait of " lady hamilton " ( as a bacchante ) after a painting by elisabeth louise vigee le brun engraved by j.b.pratt and published by thos. agnew and sons 1904.probably in preperation for the centenary celebrations of Admiral Lord nelsons 1805 victory at trafalgar .
the print is signed in pencil by the engraver j.b. pratt and is in its original frame as supplied by thos. agnew and sons.with gallery labels to the reverse.
the engraver john bishop pratt ( 1854-1910 ) was the foremost engraver of his time. comissioned by thos. agnew and sons he engraved a series of prints of paintings by artists of note that had never been published before. a near complete set of his prints being held by the british museum.
the print of emma hamilton which is after the original portrait by vigee le brun, is thought to have been painted in 1792, shortly after Emma's marriage in 1791 to her much older and besotted admirer, Sir William Hamilton, britain's diplomatic envoy to the Kingdom of Naples, and a year before she first met nelson. elisabeth vigee le brun was in naples having fled the french court where she had been portraitist and confidante to queen marie-antoinette. the portrait depicts emma hamilton in one of her famous dramatic dance performances, known as 'Attitudes', during which she recreated the poses found on lord hamiltons collection of etruscan vases, with the help of veils and scarves. her celebrated " attitudes " were famous across british and italian society.the portrait shows Emma as a Bacchante, an exuberant follower of the Roman god of wine, with vine leaves wound around her head and her long flowing chestnut hair, blowing in the breeze. She dances to the rhythm of a tambourine in front of the smoking volcano Vesuvius, which could be seen from Hamilton’s rural villa, south of Naples. in the portrait emma is showing her teeth unusual in portrature at the time.
emma hamilton had an extraordinary life, becoming, in her day what we might call a "celebrity superstar ". emma hamilton ( 1765-1815 ) was born amy Lyon to a cheshire blacksmith, after his death she was raised in wales by her mother and grandmother. at the age of 12 she moved to london to work in the london house of the composer thomas linley. at 16 she went to live in the house of mrs.kelly who was a "procurer and abbess of a brothel ". she then became an attendant at self proclaimed doctor, james grahams temple of health. soon after she was living in sussex at uppark country estate owned by sir harry featherstohaugh, she was initially employed as an entertainer and hostess but was also his mistress. Emma fell pregnant and gave birth to his child. it is here she met charles greville the nephew of her future husband sir william hamilton who took her in on the condition that she sent her daughter away to live with relatives and changed her surname to mrs.emma hart. charles greville saw a commercial profit to be made from emmas beauty and comissioned his friend the artist george romney to paint many portraits of her. george romney became completely obsessed with emma making numerous sketches of her in a variety of poses which he later turned into paintings in her absense. this was in fact beneficial to emma, through the popularity of romneys work she became well known in society circles as extremely beautiful, elegant, witty and intelligent. greville was in need of funds and found a solution to his problem in the wealthy heiress the hon. henrietta willougby. emmas relationship with greville became a incovenience to his future marriage, so greville convinced or maybe tricked emma in going to naples with her mother to live with his 62 year old uncle sir william hamilton who became entranced by emmas beauty and charm. in 1791 emma and sir william were married in london. on their return to naples they became close friends with the royal familly and it was here that she was first introduced to nelson. in 1798 nelson, now a national hero after his victory at the battle of the nile and now minus an eye and an arm, found himself the star at a celebratery ball emma held in his honour. nelson, besotted, was soon overwhelmed by emmas remarkable talents. Nelson and Emmas friendship developed into a romantic relationship. by the autumn of 1800 nelson, sir william and emma who was by now pregnant with nelsons child, returned to england. in 1801 their daughter, Horatia, was born. emma arranged for Nelson to purchase a house in Merton, Surrey, where they all lived together until Sir William Hamilton's death in April 1803. later that year nelson was called back to sea. Nelson returned briefly in august 1805. Emma was desperate to marry nelson, but as nelsons wife was very much alive , this was not possible. Nelson had to return to sea and in his will asked that Emma and Horatia be looked after by the nation. On the 21 october the joint franco-spanish fleet was defeated at the battle of trafalgar. nelson was mortally wounded dying within three hours of being shot. Nelsons brother william inherited Nelsons entire estate. against nelsons wishes, emma received very little. she overspent and after 3 years fell into debt. emma was sentenced to debtors prison. in july 1814 emma with horatia left the country for calais where she died on the 15th of january 1815 aged 49. the 14 year old horatia was returned to england subsequently marrying the rev. philip ward. she had 10 children, naming her first son horatio nelson.
overall print image size ... 365mmx 465mm
overall frame size ... 580mm x 710mm
the condition of the print is good but shows areas of foxing to the print and border with light damage to an area of the left hand border.
the frame is original to agnews and is in good condition with two small areas of damage to the left hand side.
