A Scene from 'The Busybody' by Mrs Centlivre née Susanna Carroll (1709)
Robert Smirke, RA (Wigan 1752 – London 1845)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1769 - 1845
Materials
Oil on canvas (circular)
Measurements
476 mm (18 3/4 in) Diameter
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446704
Caption
‘The Busybody’ was a comedy, first produced in 1709, by Mrs. Centlivre (born Susanna Carroll), an actress and dramatist who married Queen Anne’s chef. The episode illustrated is Act IV, Scene II, when Isabinda pretends to swoon in order to prevent her father, Sir Jealous Traffick, from getting at the cupboard in which her lover is concealed. Patch, her servant, is kneeling beside her mistress with a feigned show of concern for her condition.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, 'The Busybody', by Robert Smirke RA (Wigan 1752 – London 1845). A circular painting of an episode from Act IV, Scene II of a comedy by Mrs Centlivre, performed at Drury Lane, London in 1769. The scene illustrated is when Isabinda pretends to swoon in order to prevent her father, Sir Jealous Traffick, from getting at the cupboard in which her lover is concealed. Patch, her servant, is kneeling beside her mistress with a feigned show of concern for her condition. Isabinda wears a white blouse and yellow skirt, Patch an orange skirt and Sir Jealous Traffick a blue coat and red waiscoat with gold frogging.
Provenance
J. Haywood Hawkins in 1868; anonymous sale, Christie's, 1 June 1928, lot 91: bought by Miller; acquired by Lord Bearsted by 1932
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Robert Smirke, RA (Wigan 1752 – London 1845), artist