Celebrity in Print
On view in the Michael L. and Carolyn C. McNamara Gallery
This exhibition has been generously funded by Michael L. and Carolyn C. McNamara.
Fame. Notoriety. Celebrated. These were all words used in the 18th century to describe what is known today as celebrity. Through print media – biographies, newspapers, and engravings - stars were born. With the expansion of the printed word and pictures in the 18th century, news and portraits of notable people – both famous and infamous, willing and unwilling – traveled around the globe. Over the course of the 18th century, consumers from every walk of life had access to some kind of printed image of writers, actors, criminals, social climbers, athletes, politicians, and military figures. This exhibition features prints of some of these notable figures from the actor David Garrick to Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row, one of the four “Indian Kings” to the oldest woman Margaret Patten (who claimed to be 136 years old!) to the acrobat Mahomed Caratha . Each person has a unique story to tell.
David Garrick Esq, engraved by Valentine Green after work by Thomas Gainsborough, England, London, 1769, mezzotint, 24⅜ x 15¼in, 1975-89
Margaret Patten, engraved by John Cooper, England, London, 1737, mezzotint, 13 x 9⅛in, 1979-312
On Nee Yeath Tow no Riow, CONING VAN GRANAIAH HORE vulgo CONING IAN, published by Pieter Schenk, Europe, Netherlands, Amsterdam, 1710-1712, mezzotint, 3¾ x 6 11/16in, 1967-344,3
Portrait of Mahomed Caratha The Surprizing Equilibrist, engraved by Michael Hanbury, Ireland, Dublin, ca. 1751, etching, 10⅝ x 14½in, Museum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund, 2023-308
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