The Gypsies
Dating
1753 - 1755
Material / Technique
Etching
Dimensions
47.1x41.9 cm
Inscription
Inscription: Inscribed in ink lower left: Etch'd by Mr Gainsborough
Object Number
1989.098
Display Status
In storage
Description
This was the first print to be published commercially after one of Gainsborough’s paintings, and is thought to be the etching’s fifth state prior to its publication in 1759, the year that Gainsborough moved to Bath. The published state includes the inscription: “Painted & Etch’d by T: Gainsborough / Engrav’d & Finish’d by J: Wood”. Joseph Wood also finished Gainsborough’s etching for Joshua Kirby’s book on perspective, published in 1754. Gainsborough was said to be impatient with the hard-ground etching process, which could explain why on at least two occasions he handed his plates over to Wood to perfect. When Wood died in 1763, the plate was bought by John Boydell who re-published it the following year.
Credit Line
Purchased with an anonymous donation given through the National Art Collections Fund and the Gainsborough's House Society Development Trust, December 1989