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Lot Essay
For another example of this popular model produced in a variety of sizes, see Anonymous sale, Christie's, South Kensington, 24 June 2004, lot 136; also Peter Bradshaw, Derby Porcelain Figures, 1750-1848, London, 1990, pp. 314-316, no. 231.
James Quinn (1693-1776), the illegitimate son of an Irish barrister and Lord Mayor of Dublin, became the toast of London's Drury Lane when, in the classic tradition of the theatre, he stepped into the role of Bajazet in Tamerlane as an understudy and made it his own. Quinn first played Falstaff, a character which fit well his personal style and figure, in 1742. He retired from the stage to Bath in 1751 where he lived out his life in the style of Falstaff, eating and drinking to excess. The present model was adapted from an engraving by James McArdell of circa 1760 after a portrait by Francis Hayman.
James Quinn (1693-1776), the illegitimate son of an Irish barrister and Lord Mayor of Dublin, became the toast of London's Drury Lane when, in the classic tradition of the theatre, he stepped into the role of Bajazet in Tamerlane as an understudy and made it his own. Quinn first played Falstaff, a character which fit well his personal style and figure, in 1742. He retired from the stage to Bath in 1751 where he lived out his life in the style of Falstaff, eating and drinking to excess. The present model was adapted from an engraving by James McArdell of circa 1760 after a portrait by Francis Hayman.