The Curious and Uncommon Performance's of A. Monkey as they will be introduc'd every Evening at Sadlers Wells
Artist
Unknown
(English)
Dateca. 1767
Periodn/a
CultureBritish
Mediumengraving on paper
ClassificationPrints
Credit Linetbd
Object numberSN1546.131.4
[Feb 2020 installation]
Unknown artist, British
The Curious and Uncommon Performances of a Monkey as They Will be Introduced Every Evening at Sadler's Wells, circa 1767
SN1546.131.4
Sadler's Wells was first opened in 1683 as a music house, presenting concerts and offering patrons healing mineral waters from the property's wells. The venue evolved to incorporate a variety of live entertainments from dramas to acrobatics and even a water tank for aquatic performances. Over the centuries numerous circus artists would perform at Sadler's Wells from Joseph Grimaldi's classic pantomimes of Clown to the wire walkers and acrobats.
Around 1767, Signor Spinacuta, a rope walker himself, presented his trained monkey, Le Chevalier des Singes, at Sadler's Wells. The monkey performed a variety of tricks upon the tight wire and the slack rope. Among the most exciting was when the creature walked the slack rope while swirling a Catharine Wheel of lit fireworks around its head.
Twenty-five years later, Signor Spinacuta would be the first rope walker presented in a circus ring in America.
On View
Not on viewImage: 13 3/8 × 17 in. (34 × 43.2 cm)
