Doll Tearsheet, Falstaff, Henry and Poins (Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2, Act 2, Scene 4)
first published 1795; reissued 1852
Medium
Stipple engraving; third state of three
Dimensions
Image: 19 1/2 x 14 3/16 in. (49.6 x 36 cm) Plate: 22 7/16 × 16 1/8 in. (57 × 41 cm) Sheet: 28 1/16 x 22 in. (71.3 x 55.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
Accession Number
42.119.534
Tags
Art Historical Context
This vibrant stipple engraving captures a lively tavern brawl from Act 2, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's *King Henry IV Part 2*, featuring roguish Sir John Falstaff tussling with Doll Tearsheet, while Prince Henry and Poins intervene amid drawn swords. Designed by the dramatic Romantic artist Henry Fuseli, was masterfully engraved by William Swell Leney for John and Josiah Boydell's ambitious *Shakespeare Gallery* project, first published in 179 and reissued in 2. This third-state impression, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, showcases the chaotic energy of Shakespeare's hist...