The Monster

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James Gillray
1756-1815
The Monster
etching
plate mark: 265 x 207; sheet: 286 x 214 mm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2473
Published: 
[London] : Published July 9 1790, No 11 Little Britain, [1790]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Etching attributed to James Gillray in the British Museum online catalog.
This print appears to be a different issue of George no. 7166 in the collections of the British Museum; with the address given in the imprint as "No 11 Little Britain" and the name of the publisher omitted.
"Renwick Williams, who had been identified on 13 June as the mysterious Monster, see BMSat 7648, &c, was examined at Bow Street on 14 June, &c., and was tried at the Old Bailey on 7 July 1790. He was found guilty but judgement was respited till December. This portrait is evidently based on a sketch made at the trial, see BMSat 7730."--British Museum online catalog, curator's comments.

Summary: 

Portrait of Renwick Williams, known as "The Monster"; half-length, standing in profile to the right, dressed in the fashion of the day.

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