{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O84979"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O84979/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV3235/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV3235/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AV3235","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JP7092","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O84979/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O84979","accessionNumber":"S.1130-1986","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Ira Aldridge as Mungo in <i>The Padlock</i> by Isaac Bickerstaffe","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Actor Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) was born Frederick William Aldridge in New York. In 1824 he came to London and made his career in Europe. He is shown here as Mungo in the popular farce<i> The Padlock</i>, written by Isaac Bickerstaffe with music by Charles Dibden. The play had become a comic staple on the English stage since its original production at Drury Lane Theatre in 1768. Aldridge got great pathos out of the role of Mungo, the abused, harassed servant, as well as humour in the scenes with his master, the rich West Indian planter Don Diego. \n\nAldridge may have played Mungo for the first time in March 1826 at Devizes in Wiltshire while on tour. It became one of his favourite roles, in which he could make audiences both laugh and think, since Mungo is not just a comic insubordinate servant but also an exploited lackey, aware of the indignities to which he is subjected. During his career Aldridge also regularly sang songs from the play, and played the role in a double bill with <i>Othello,</i>displaying the wide range of his acting abilities.","physicalDescription":"Oil portrait of Ira Aldridge as Mungo. Full length black male figure standing in an interior. He wears a white jacket and matching knee breeches with a striped shirt, beige stockings and brown shoes. Behind him is a window with a view of the countryside. Under the window is a table covered by a green cloth, on which are books, papers and an inkwell with a quill pen. To the right of the table is a chair with a guitar on the seat, propped against the chair-back. There is a hat on the floor behind Aldridge's right foot. Framed.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Thomas Charles Wageman","id":"A5109"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oil colour","id":"AAT15050"},{"text":"canvas","id":"AAT14078"}],"techniques":[{"text":"oil painting","id":"AAT178684"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Oil on canvas","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2006AV3235","2016JP7092"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"106","id":"THES49925"},"free":"","case":"CA006A","shelf":"WALL","box":""},{"current":{"text":"106","id":"THES49925"},"free":"","case":"CA006A","shelf":"WALL","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"oil paintings","id":"AAT33799"}],[{"text":"frame","id":"AAT189814"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1833","earliest":"1828-01-01","latest":"1837-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"S.3577-2009","id":"O1151292"},"association":"Depiction"}],"creditLine":"Given by Professor Herbert Marshall","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"44.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"34.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Given to the V&amp;A  by Professor Herbert Marshall, the author, with Mildred Stock, of the biography of Ira Aldridge, published by Rockcliff in 1958. Professor Marshall was given the painting by Aldridge's daughter, Amanda.\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Portrait entitled \"Ira Aldridge as Mungo in <i>The Padlock</i> by Isaac Bickerstaffe\". Oil on canvas, attributed to Thomas Charles Wageman, ca. 1833","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Ashton, Geoffrey. <u>Catalogue of Paintings at the Theatre Museum, London.</u> ed. James Fowler, London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 224p. ill. ISBN 1851771026"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Aldridge, Ira","id":"N2845"},{"text":"Mungo","id":"N2846"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"African-American actor Ira Aldridge moved to Europe in 1824. He became famous as Shakespeare's tragic heroes, but a favourite role was Mungo, the black servant in Isaac Bickerstaffe's farce <i>The Padlock</i>. Originally played as a caricatured West Indian by a white actor in blackface, the role was transformed by Aldridge, a passionate anti-slavery campaigner, who gave dignity and pathos to the exploited Mungo.","date":{"text":"2024","earliest":"2024-01-01","latest":"2024-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["S.1130:1-1986","S.1130:2-1986"],"accessionNumberNum":"1130","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1986,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-29","recordCreationDate":"2003-10-28","availableToBook":false}}