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G0371
Paintings: G0371
Title
Elizabeth Kemble
Technique
Oil on canvas
Subject
Character
Imoinda : Oroonoko
Artist
Dimensions
Height: 36.5cm
Width: 28cm
Width: 28cm
Provenance
John Bell; Charles Mathews
Other number
Mathews 385
RW/CKA 219
RW/CKA 219
Exhibition history
1833 London, Queen's Bazaar, Oxford Street, "Mr Mathews's Gallery of Theatrical Portraits" (385)
1962 Chichester, Chichester Antiques Ltd, "The Painter and the Stage" (17)
Engraving history
William S. Leney for Bell's British Library 21 October 1791, line 10.8 x 7.95 pub. Bell's “British Theatre” (1797), vol 19
In Act II, scene 3, Imoinda has just recognised her long-lost husband, Oroonoko, "son and heir to the great king of Angola," and speaks the line printed on the engraving: "There's something in that name that voice that face - Oh if I know myself, I cannot be mistaken." Both have been captured and taken as slaves to the British colony of Surinam in the West Indies. Imoinda is a white lady, the daughter of a stranger in the court of Angola. Though now a slave, Imoinda has retained the trappings of Angolan grandeur. She wears a white turban with an ostrich feather. Her dress is yellow with a train, and has a full white underskirt spotted with ermine tails. Ermine tails also decorate the white panels in her long fringed yellow sash.
Southerne's tragedy, based on the novel by Aphra Behn, was first performed at Drury Lane in November 1695, with Verbruggen as Oroonoko and Mrs Rogers as Imoinda. Elizabeth Kemble appears never to have played Imoinda, although a "Miss Kemble" took the role on the last two occasions before De Wilde's picture was painted, on 17 March 1783 and 1 January 1784, both at Drury Lane.
Elizabeth Satchell married Stephen Kemble on 20 November 1783 and appeared on bills as Mrs Kemble from 24 November. No doubt the Miss Kemble on both occasions was Elizabeth's new sister-in-law, Frances Kemble (later Mrs Francis Twiss), who performed at Drury Lane from 1783 to 1786 and during the summer of 1784 at the Haymarket. De Wilde's picture, however, does not depict Frances Kemble. For a list of the portraits of Frances Kemble see the “Biographical Dictionary”, 8: 331.
Southerne's tragedy, based on the novel by Aphra Behn, was first performed at Drury Lane in November 1695, with Verbruggen as Oroonoko and Mrs Rogers as Imoinda. Elizabeth Kemble appears never to have played Imoinda, although a "Miss Kemble" took the role on the last two occasions before De Wilde's picture was painted, on 17 March 1783 and 1 January 1784, both at Drury Lane.
Elizabeth Satchell married Stephen Kemble on 20 November 1783 and appeared on bills as Mrs Kemble from 24 November. No doubt the Miss Kemble on both occasions was Elizabeth's new sister-in-law, Frances Kemble (later Mrs Francis Twiss), who performed at Drury Lane from 1783 to 1786 and during the summer of 1784 at the Haymarket. De Wilde's picture, however, does not depict Frances Kemble. For a list of the portraits of Frances Kemble see the “Biographical Dictionary”, 8: 331.
