Colley Cibber, Esq.r

Date1758

After work by Jean Baptiste Van Loo 1684 - 1745

Engraver Edward Fisher 1722 - 1782

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 13 15/16 × 10 in (35.4 × 25.4cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1979-71

DescriptionLower margin: "V.B. Vanloo pinx 1740/ Edw,,.d Fisher fecit 1758/ Colley Cibber, Esq./ late Poet-Laureat."
Trimmed just below the title: "Printed for John Spilsbury Engraver, Map & Print Seller/ in Russell-Court Covent-Garden London"Label TextColley Cibber was a famous English actor, playwright, and Poet Laureate. Cibber’s (1671-1757) memoir, An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, fed a public eager to learn every detail of the actor’s life. His autobiography became a model for other actors and authors who profited from their public lives by writing books. These volumes often contained portrait prints that further solidified an actor’s fame.  ProvenanceBefore 1979, The Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1979-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)