SCENE in the SCHOOL for SCANDAL. "Lady Teazel ! by all that's Damnable"

DateDec. 5, 1783

Publisher Robert Sayer (1725-1794) & John Bennett (fl. 1760-1787)

MediumBlack and white engraving with hand color on laid paper.

DimensionsOH: 44 1/2" OW: 11 1/2" PH: 13 3/4" PW: 9 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1973-381

DescriptionLower margin reads: "SCENE in the SCHOOL for SCANDAL./ "Lady Teazel ! by all that's Damnable"/ London, Printed for R.Sayer and J.Bennett, Map, Chart & Printsellers & Globe-makers, No. 53, Fleet Street, as the Act directs, Dec.r 5.th 1783.Label TextThe School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and first performed in London at the Drury Lane Theartre on May 8, 1777. The scene depicted comes from Act IV Scene III in which Lady Teazel has just been discovers a screen that she had been hiding behind in order to listen in on a conversation happening between Sir Peter (her husband), Charles and Joseph. Sir Peter and Charles were accusing Joseph of having an affair with Lady Teazel. All the while, Joseph is proclaiming his innocence and maddening Lady Teazel . In this dramatic end of Act IV she denounces Joseph and exits; leaving Joseph to explain himself to the enraged Sir Peter.ProvenanceBefore 1973, Bookpress, Ltd. (Williamsburg, VA); 1973-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).