Benjamin Hallet

Dateca. 1750

After work by Thomas Jenkins

Engraver James McArdell (1728 - 1765)

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 16 7/8 × 12in. (42.9 × 30.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1979-313

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Benjamin Hallet,/ A Child not five Years Old, who under the Tuition of M.r Oswald, Performed on the Flute at Drury Lane Theatre An.o 1748, for 50 Nights/ with extraordinary Skill & Applause, and in the following Year was able to Play his part in any Concert on the Violincello./ Tho.s Jenkins Pinx.t/ J.s M.cArdell Fecit"
Label TextBenjamin Hallet, a child prodigy, mastered the flute and violoncello by the age of nine. In 1748, Hallet is said to have performed the flute for 50 nights in a row. A year later, he began playing violoncello in a performance group with whom he remained until 1753. After this time, he was no longer mentioned in London newspapers.

Although he was likely eight years old when he began performing, newspaper claimed he was only five. This depiction of him wearing stays and a gown reinforces his young age, as males of the upper class wore these garments until graduating to breeches between the ages of four and eight.
ProvenanceBefore 1979, The Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1979-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).