Skip to main content

A Pretty Copy: P.14885-R

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

A Pretty Copy
Portrait of Dr. Isaac Gossett

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Etching on wove paper. Proof printed on a sheet of Whatman paper (visible watermark along left margin) with deckled edges. Half-length caricature of a middle-aged man with a large head, large nose and with furrowed brow and leering grin. He wears a tricorn hat from which a few curls of hair can be seen escaping onto his right shoulder. He rests his elbows on a table. Shelves lined with books are seen behind him. He holds a book titled 'HUDIBRAS'. Another book open on the table is inscribed: 'A / Catalogue / of / Books / to be sold / by [Au]ction / The Rev / I. Gossett / D.D.F.R.S.'. A hand holding a hammer can be seen in faint outline to the left. An inkstand with quill in the centre foreground. An illegible inscription written in graphite in a tiny hand runs along the lower margin. According to George and O'Donoghue, the location is Lochee's auction-room. Gossett (1735-1812) was a bibliographer and collector of books on classics and theology. He was a familiar figure in the salerooms of London book auctioneers. Gossett was a short man who suffered deformity and ill-health. See Notes. Most commonly found as a coloured impression, See BM and Library of Congress, 2006681885.

Legal notes

Unknown

Acquisition and important dates

by unknown

Dating

18th Century
Production date: circa AD 1801

Note

Height 127mm (plate) x width 97mm (plate)

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Etching

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14885-R
Primary reference Number: 225496
Stephens/George: 9773
O'Donoghue: 3
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Wednesday 5 September 2018 Updated: Monday 7 January 2019 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "A Pretty Copy" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225496 Accessed: 2024-12-22 19:26:50

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225496 |title=A Pretty Copy |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 19:26:50|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-225496

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...