Mrs Abington

Reynolds, Joshua, after · 1772

Mezzotint portrait on paper of actress Frances 'Fanny' Abington (née Barton) (1737-1815) engraved by Elizabeth Judkins (fl. 1770-1814) and published by James Watson (1740-1790) in London in 1772. It is a copy of a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), one of at least a half dozen portraits he painted of the actress. Frances’ first recorded stage appearance was at the Haymarket Theatre in 1755, performing that year also in Bath and Richmond. The following year she was back in London, having joined the Drury Lane company. In 1759 she married James Abington, her music master and a royal trumpeter, and was thereafter billed 'Mrs Abington'. The marriage did not last long. She spent five years on stage in Dublin before returning to London at the request of David Garrick (1717-1779), re-joining Drury Lane as one of their leading actresses. She was particularly noted for her comic performances and originated the role of Lady Teazle in Richard Sheridan's ‘The School of Scandal’ (1777). She moved to the Covent Garden company in 1782, probably due to her sometimes acrimonious relationship with Garrick. Frances took a career break between 1790 and 1797 before reappearing for a final season. Not just a famous actress, she was also known as a fashion icon whose ‘Abington cap’, a headdress worn during a production, became a fashion trend.