James Bretherton (active 1770-1781) after a design by Henry William Bunbury (1750-1811), The Dog Barber. La Francia, 1772. Etching with added color. Graphic Arts GC021. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895.
William Dickinson (1747-1823) after a design by Henry William Bunbury (1750-1811), A Family Piece, 1781. Stipple engraving and etching. Graphic Arts GC021. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895.
James Bretherton (active 1770-1781) after a design by Henry William Bunbury (1750-1811), Mutual Accusation, 1774. Etching. Graphic Arts GC021. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895.
“When once you’ve told & cant recall a Lye
Boldly persist in’t or your Fame will die.
Learn this ye Wives, with unrelenting Claws
Or right or wrong, Assert your husbands cause.”
The British artist Henry Bunbury has been called the Raphael of Caricaturists. A member of a landed family, Bunbury traveled in the elite circles of London, exhibiting at the Royal Academy and honored with an obituary in Gentleman’s Magazine at his death.
“His pencil never transgresses the limits of good taste and delicacy, and had he been under the necessity of pursuing art for profit, instead of amusement and pleasure only, he would probably have made a great fortune by the produce of his genius.”
For more information, see Hugh Belsey, Henry William Bunbury 1750-1811 (1983). Graphic arts (GA) Oversize NC 1479.B89 B45 1983Q.
