Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

A philosopher, - Conduit Street / [Gillray f.]

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James Gillray

A philosopher, - Conduit Street / [Gillray f.]

Published

[London] : H. Humphrey, 1796

hand colored etching
image: 22.4 x 17.4 cm; plate: 22.4 x 17.4 cm; sheet: 23.7 x 18.9 cm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2944
Provenance

Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.

Summary

An elderly man displays scientific experiments. He stoops forward, in profile to the left, holding a rod horizontally between his fingers, in the left hand is a glass. A small still, phials, &c, and an elaborate appliance (right) are on the long table behind which he stands. On the wall are two medallion profile-portraits, one (left) being that of Priestley. A serpent, a scroll with cabalistic signs, a terrestrial globe on a bracket, are also on the wall, which is lit by a single candle with a curiously shaped reflector.

Associated names
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, engraver.
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department