An original antique engraving by James Gillray, published in the Boihn Edition of 1851, using Gillray's original copper plates. With later hand colouring.
Half Natural"is asatirical portrait caricatureby James Gillray, published on 1 August 1799. It depicts the flamboyant British nobleman, playwright, and dandySir Lumley Skeffington.
The print is notable for its double-edged title and unusual composition. Skeffington was a famous "fop" of the Regency era, known for his extreme fashion sense and for inventing the colour "Skeffington brown". Gillray portrays him from the back to highlight his absurdly padded "Jean de Bry" coat, which featured exaggerated shoulders and puffy sleeves.
The title "Half Natural" is a pun. In 18th-century slang, a "natural" was a term for a fool or simpleton. By calling him "half natural," Gillray is both insulting Skeffington's intelligence and commenting on his highly artificial appearance.
Unlike typical caricatures of the time, which often used blank backgrounds, Skeffington is placed in a "natural" but bleak landscape. He is shown smiling as he faces a distant gibbet (a gallows), suggesting a dark irony about the transience of fashion and its followers.
