Mr Ellar as Harlequin

Uncoloured souvenir theatrical portrait with engraving of the actor Mr Tom Ellar in the role of Harlequin. With signature 'Marks fecit' establishing J.L. Marks as both engraver and publisher. The print has been handcoloured.

Ellar first played Harlequin in 1808 and became a famous Harlequin. He played the role at Covent Garden for several seasons from 1827. Ellar was said to have “a curious art of spinning his head round with remarkable velocity as if the masked face was only a whirling teetotum revolving in the centre of his frilled neck.”

Thakeray wrote of Ellar's eventual decline, describing: “prince of many enchanted islands, was the law-breaker for acting at a penny theatre after having well-nigh starved in the streets where nobody would listen to his old guitar. No one gave him a shilling to bless him, not one of us who owe him so much. So passes the glory of Harlequin.”