Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) as 'Dubosc' in 'The Lyons Mail' by Charles Reade
after James Ferrier Pryde (Edinburgh 1866 – London 1941)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
Unknown
Materials
Glass, Paper, Wood
Measurements
651 x 467 x 13 mm
Order this imageCollection
Greys Court, Oxfordshire
NT 196033
Summary
Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) as 'Dubosc' in 'The Lyons Mail' written by Charles Reade. Print on paper after James Ferrier Pryde. Framed and mounted.
Full description
Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) as 'Dubosc' in 'The Lyons Mail' written by Charles Reade. Print on paper after original by James Ferrier Pryde (1866-1941). Framed and mounted. The original of this painting was created by James Ferrier Pryde, and is part of the collections at the National Portrait Gallery. Completed in around 1906, it is carried out in pencil and gouache on paper laid on board, and was bequeathed to the NPG in 2001 by Sir John Gielgud. Pryde was born in Edinburgh and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy Schools from 1886 to 1887. Living in London from 1890, Pryde and his brother-in-law William Nicholson set up a partnership as poster artists under the name 'The Beggarstaff Brothers'. As a painter, Pryde specialised in dark interiors and architectural fantasies. The majority of these works were done before 1925, though he did produce some designs for theatre sets later in life. The Courier of Lyons is a play by the British writer Charles Reade which was first performed in 1854. It was based on the 1796 Courrier de Lyon case in Revolutionary France. Reade drew inspiration from a previous stage work based on the case by the French writers Paul Siraudin and Louis-Mathurin Moreau. Reade wrote the play specifically for the actor Charles Kean. It had its début on 26 June 1854, with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in attendance. It had an initial run of twenty six performances and was revived frequently. It proved so popular that is soon spawned a number of pirated versions, and Reade commented in 1855 that it had been seen in nearly every theatre in London. Reade later wrote a revised version for the actor Henry Irving in 1877 under the title The Lyons Mail a name by which the original play is sometimes known, and as it is referred to in this particular piece. Henry Irving also stared in a silent film adaptation of the play which was released in 1916. It was made by the Ideal Film Company, one of the leading British silent film studios. It should not be confused with a later sound version The Lyons Mail released in 1931 by Twickenham Studios. It was released in the United States in 1919.
Makers and roles
after James Ferrier Pryde (Edinburgh 1866 – London 1941), artist