Peg Woffington oil by Henry Morland

“Portrait of Peg Woffington”

Oil on canvas c1760, after the original by Jean Baptiste van Loo, c1738, labelled on the reverse ‘Peg Woffington...Henry Morland’.

Henry Robert Morland was born in London in 1730, dying there in 1797. He was a painter, pastellist, art restorer and engraver; taught by his father George Henry Morland, he exhibited at the Society of Artists and the Royal Academy and especially at the Free Society of Artists in London. He specialised in portraits and genre scenes and exhibited a portrait of “Garrick in the role of Richard IIIrd”

Margaret ‘Peg’ Woffington was born in Dublin in 1720, dying in London in 1760. As a child of ten, she was recruited by an Italian rope dancer called Violante and played Polly Peachum in a Liliputian production of the Beggar’s Opera. She danced and acted at various Dublin theatres until 1740, when her success as Sir Harry Wildair in ‘The Constant Couple’ led to her being given her debut at Covent Garden. She became a well-known actress thereafter. She lived openly with David Garrick, the foremost actor of his day, and her other love affairs(including liaisons with Edward Bligh, 2^nd Earl of Darnley and MP Charles Hanbury Williams), were numerous and notorious.

Biblio: Bénézit: Dictionary of Artists. (780 x 590)