Research Catalog

Title

The penny wedding [graphic] / painted by Sir David Wilkie, R.A. ; engraved by W. Greatbach.

Author

Greatbach, William, 1802-1894.

Publication

London : Geo. Virtue, [1848?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Wilkie, David, Sir, 1785-1841.

Description

1 print : engraving, b&w; 24 x 30 cm.

Summary

Reproductive print. Representation of a celebration in a rustic interior, possibly a farmhouse. The guests are chiefly engaged in conversing or eating, but two couples are dancing to the accompaniment of a fiddler and a cellist seated in front of the window at left. Most of the participants wear fashions of the early nineteenth-century, but a man at background center appears to be dressed in a kilt. He and a second man, to the right of the dancers, wear hats that seem to be trimmed in tartan.

Subjects

• Gow, Niel, 1727-1807
• Reproductive prints
• Engravings
• Weddings > Scotland > 19th century
• Ballroom dancing > Scotland > 19th century

Genre/Form

• Engravings.
• Reproductive prints.

Note

• Caption title.

Source (note)

• Lincoln Kirstein.

Biography (note)

• The term "penny wedding" refers to a Scottish tradition in which the guests each contribute a penny towards expenses, with any leftover funds going to the newlywed couple. Alternatively, the guests were said to bring their own food and drink to the post-ceremony festivities. The online catalog of the Royal Collection, London, identifies the fiddler as Niel Gow, 1727-1807.
• Sir David Wilkie's original oil painting was created in 1818 for King George IV, and is now held by the Royal Collection in London. William Greatbach, the engraver, was known for his engravings after Wilkie's paintings, many of which were published in a collection titled The Wilkie Gallery (1848-1850).

Call Number

*MGZFX Gre W Pen 1

OCLC

825552246

Author

Greatbach, William, 1802-1894. Engraver

Title

The penny wedding [graphic] / painted by Sir David Wilkie, R.A. ; engraved by W. Greatbach.

Imprint

London : Geo. Virtue, [1848?]

Biography

The term "penny wedding" refers to a Scottish tradition in which the guests each contribute a penny towards expenses, with any leftover funds going to the newlywed couple. Alternatively, the guests were said to bring their own food and drink to the post-ceremony festivities. The online catalog of the Royal Collection, London, identifies the fiddler as Niel Gow, 1727-1807.

Sir David Wilkie's original oil painting was created in 1818 for King George IV, and is now held by the Royal Collection in London. William Greatbach, the engraver, was known for his engravings after Wilkie's paintings, many of which were published in a collection titled The Wilkie Gallery (1848-1850).

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Source

Gift; Lincoln Kirstein.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

Wilkie, David, Sir, 1785-1841. Artist

Kirstein, Lincoln, 1907-1996. Donor

Research Call Number

*MGZFX Gre W Pen 1