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G0803
Drawings: G0803
Title
Dame Ellen Terry
Technique
Other work on paper
Subject
Character
Portia : The Merchant of Venice
Artist
Dimensions
Height: 30.5cm
Width: 22.8cm
Width: 22.8cm
Other materials
Brush and black ink with wash on wove paper
Inscription/signature
(Monogram at l. in pen and black ink)
Provenance
Brigadier Cudden, by whom presented to the Garrick Club, 1973
Other number
GCL 721
Gift 849
Gift 849
This economical sketch records the actress in the lawyer’s robes she wore for Act IV, scene 1 of “The Merchant of Venice” (see G0800). Portia was one of Ellen Terry's most popular roles. She first played the character in 1876 under the Bancroft's managment, then again in 1879 with Henry Irving at the Lyceum. In 1903 she and Henry Irving performed 'The Merchant of Venice' for the Artist's Benevolent fund at Drury Lane, in July 1903. In the Victoria and Albert Museum collection there is a portrait of Ellen Terry as Portia by Pamela Colman-Smith. Our sketch may possibly have been an initial draft of the portrait in the V&A.
