Tickets and Passes of London from the David Young Collection

Theatre and Entertainment, TICKETS and PASSES, Theatre and Entertainment, CLERKENWELL, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, oval engraved copper, sadlers wells theatre and ms monogram, rev. admit two, named (Rd. Wroughton), 53 x 31mm (W 409, this piece illustrated; D & W –). Very fine and extremely rare; pierced for suspension £300-400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Tickets and Passes of London from the David Young Collection.

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Provenance: Baldwin FPL 2000 (142).

Richard Wroughton (1748-1822), actor, b Bath, first appeared at Covent Garden in 1768 and was a regular on the stage for the next 10 years, combined with summer seasons in Liverpool. In 1782 he took over management of the Sadler’s Wells theatre and was the joint proprietor from 1785-92, after which he returned to the stage with the Drury Lane company. Retiring in 1798, he was persuaded to return for a further stage career from 1800-8.

The original Sadler’s Wells theatre, named after Richard Sadler, Charles II’s surveyor of highways and the owner of a medicinal well discovered in 1683, opened in 1740. It was replaced by a stone building in 1766