Antique 1803 Boydell “Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy” Stipple Engraving—Framed

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An evocative antique stipple engraving depicting the infant William Shakespeare being nurtured by the personified figures of Tragedy and Comedy. … Read more An evocative antique stipple engraving depicting the infant William Shakespeare being nurtured by the personified figures of Tragedy and Comedy. Designed after a painting by celebrated British portraitist George Romney and engraved by Benjamin Smith, the work bears the complete title “Shakspeare—Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy” and the original Boydell publication line dated December 1, 1803.

The composition presents Shakespeare not as the familiar mature playwright but as a gifted child receiving his imaginative education directly from the dramatic arts. Comedy supports the infant tenderly at the center, while the veiled figure of Tragedy kneels beside them and offers a small flute. The intimate group is surrounded by a shadowed woodland setting, draped fabric, a shallow bowl and fruit arranged along the foreground.

Romney’s conception transforms literary biography into Neoclassical allegory. Shakespeare’s future genius is portrayed as something nourished from infancy by the opposing emotional forces of theater: humor and sorrow, tenderness and gravity, lightness and dramatic intensity.

Benjamin Smith translated the painting into print through exceptionally fine stippling supported by engraved lines. Thousands of closely worked dots create smooth transitions across the faces, hands, fabric and the infant’s softly modeled body. Denser passages establish the enveloping woodland shadows, while selectively lighter areas draw attention toward the three figures.

The visible print quality is particularly strong. Dark passages retain substantial depth, and delicate features—including eyes, curls, fingers, folds of fabric and the small wind instrument—remain sharply articulated. The irregular stippled marks visible under close examination are consistent with an intaglio engraving rather than a modern halftone or photographic reproduction.

Beneath the image appear the engraved credits “Painted by G. Romney Esqr.” and “Engraved by B. Smith.” The central inscription identifies the work as engraved from Romney’s original painting in the possession of Francis Newbery, Esq., followed by the London publication statement for J. & J. Boydell at the Shakespeare Gallery, Pall Mall, and No. 90 Cheapside.

John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery was among the most ambitious British publishing and artistic enterprises of the Georgian period. Established in Pall Mall in 1789, the gallery commissioned major British painters to interpret Shakespearean subjects and employed accomplished printmakers to translate those paintings into large, highly finished engravings for subscribers and collectors.

This particular composition served as a frontispiece image associated with the monumental Boydell Shakespeare project. The spelling “Shakspeare” is preserved from the engraved title and publication inscriptions rather than being a modern typographical error.

The work is presented in a handsome later custom frame. A dark reddish-brown wood molding and narrow gilt inner liner give the monochromatic image warmth and architectural definition, while the broad ivory woven-textile mat provides a quiet visual interval around the antique paper.

A surviving label on the reverse identifies the glazing specifically as Tru Vue Conservation Clear glass. This conservation-grade clear glass is designed to block up to 99 percent of ultraviolet radiation. It should not be confused with anti-reflective Museum Glass, and ordinary room reflections may remain visible.

The literary subject and restrained neutral palette make the piece particularly well suited to a paneled library, traditional study, English Country sitting room, formal office, collected entry or Georgian- and Neoclassical-inspired interior.

Display it above a writing desk, between bookcases or as the central image in a gallery wall of antique portraits, literary engravings, architectural prints and old maps. The dark wood, ivory textile and muted gilt presentation coordinates naturally with leather, mahogany, aged brass, vellum, transferware and richly patterned textiles.

A sophisticated union of British literary history, Georgian allegory and virtuoso printmaking, preserved in a conservation-glazed presentation that is both decorative and ready to hang.

ARTIST AND ENGRAVER BIOGRAPHIES
George Romney was one of the leading British portrait painters of the late 18th century. Born in Dalton-in-Furness in 1734, he established a successful London practice and became especially admired for elegant, psychologically engaging portraits and imaginative historical compositions.

Romney participated in the conception of John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery and produced more than one allegorical image treating Shakespeare’s creative genius. “The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy” belongs to this group of idealized literary subjects. Romney died in 1802, shortly before the publication date carried by Smith’s engraving.

Benjamin Smith was a British stipple and line engraver active during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He produced portraits, historical subjects and reproductive engravings after prominent artists and contributed multiple plates to Boydell publishing projects. His professional activity is documented from approximately 1786 through 1833.

BOYDELL SHAKESPEARE GALLERY
John Boydell conceived the Shakespeare Gallery as a means of encouraging a distinctly British school of history painting while celebrating Shakespeare as a national literary figure.

The gallery opened in Pall Mall in 1789 with paintings commissioned from artists including George Romney, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Henry Fuseli, Angelica Kauffmann and Benjamin West. Engravings after the exhibited paintings were issued to subscribers beginning in 1791.

Georgetown University Library documents the present composition as a frontispiece illustration engraved by B. Smith after George Romney. Its Boydell exhibition notes that the project’s engravings date from 1791 through 1803 and that a two-volume elephant-folio collection was issued during the project’s concluding years.

IDENTIFICATION AND INSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTATION
The complete title, subject, engraved artist and engraver credits, and Boydell publication line identify this work as Benjamin Smith’s “Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy,” after George Romney.

The same composition is cataloged by the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College as an English engraving dated 1803 by Benjamin Smith after George Romney.

Georgetown University Library separately records it as the frontispiece illustration to the Boydell Shakespeare project, engraved by B. Smith after Romney.

Another documented example offered at a 2025 specialist prints auction measured 363 × 443 millimeters at the plate and 410 × 490 millimeters for the sheet. Those measurements are supplied only as a reference for comparison and should not be treated as the dimensions of the present framed impression.

EDITION AND DATING NOTES
The lower publication inscription reads substantially:

“London Pubd. Decr. 1st 1803 by J. & J. Boydell, at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall, & No. 90, Cheapside.”

This confirms that the plate was published by John and Josiah Boydell with an official publication date of December 1, 1803.

The present impression retains the complete title and publisher’s line and displays crisp, strongly contrasted stipple work. These qualities are compatible with an early impression from the plate.

Later impressions and restrikes of Boydell plates are documented, however, and a printed 1803 publication line does not by itself prove that an individual impression was pulled during that year. The sealed framing prevents inspection of the complete plate mark, paper watermark, verso and other characteristics that could assist in establishing a more precise issue.

The work is therefore described responsibly as an original intaglio stipple engraving bearing the 1803 publication line, probably printed in 1803 or during the early 19th century. It is not represented as a conclusively authenticated first-edition impression.

SIGNATURE AND INSCRIPTIONS
Engraved at lower left: “Painted by G. Romney Esqr.”

Engraved at lower right: “Engraved by B. Smith”

Engraved title at center: “SHAKSPEARE / Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy”

The remaining inscription states that the engraving was made from George Romney’s original painting in the possession of Francis Newbery, Esq., and records the December 1, 1803 London publication by J. & J. Boydell.

These inscriptions were engraved into the printing plate and are not hand signatures.

No handwritten signature or edition number is visible.

PROVENANCE
Acquired from an estate collection

AUCTION DOCUMENTATION
The work was cataloged by the estate as a “Shakspeare Engraving, Smith after Romney,” published by the Boydell brothers.

Subsequent research confirms the composition, engraver, artist, title and 1803 Boydell publication information. The photographs also document the complete engraved publication line and the label identifying the glazing as Tru Vue Conservation Clear glass.

KEYWORDS
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