Samuel De Wilde 1748-1832. British School 18th.Century. A superb large format pencil and watercolour study of an Actress in quaker costume. Signed and dated lower left 1795. Possibly a portrait of Mary (Maria) Gibbs (ca.1770-1850). 23.5 by 38.5 cms image. Laid on to original mount 30 by 43 5 cms overall. Some slight foxing and staining to no real detriment.
De Wilde was a portrait painter and etcher of Dutch descent, famous for his theatrical paintings. He was the leading painter of actors and actresses between 1770-1830. The son of a Dutch joiner who had settled in London he enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools in 1769. Exhibiting small portraits at the Society of Artists fron 1776 and at the Royal Academy from 1778. His career in theatrical portraiture began when he was employed by John Bell as portraitist for his publication British Theatre, a series that ran from 1791 until 1795. He became well known for his theatrical portraiture, which he exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1792 until 1821. At his studio in Drury Lane many actors and actresses came to sit for him and his theatrical portraits appeared in numerous publications, including the Monthly Mirror, John Cawthorn's Minor British Theatre and Oxberry's New English Drama. The bulk of his work is in pencil or watercolour.
Many thanks to Carmen Delgado and The Garrick Club for the suggestion as to the sitters identity.
Maria Gibbs née Logan was one of three Irish sisters who became sucessful actors on the London stage. Maria made her first appearance to great acclaim as Sally in Man and Wife by George Coleman the elder in 1783. Adopting the name Mrs. Gibbs, in 1787 she played Biddy in David Garrick's Miss in her Teens. Obtaining a reputation as a second Mrs.Jordan.
Oxberry speaks of her as possessing genius, talent, and industry, adding that her Curiosa in the ‘Cabinet’ is one of the richest specimens of extant comic acting. The Monthly Mirror reported in 1800 that "in consequence of the secession of Mrs. Stephen Kemble, she has deservedly occupied all characters of tender simplicity and unaffected elegance" She won the high esteem of her contemporaries, and the stories told concerning her are mostly to her credit. She appears to have been generous in disposition, and to have befriended her fellow-actresses. She shared an intimacy with George Coleman the younger who wrote many roles for her, they married on the death of his first wife in 1836.