Pic Nic Society

'Dilettanti Theatricals or a Peep in the Green Room - vide Pic Nic Orgies' by caricaturist James Gillray

Caricature titled 'The Pic-Nic Orchestra'

The Duchess of Buckinghamshire in a caricature titled 'Enter Cowslip'

The Pic Nic Society was an elite amateur theatre society founded at the turn of the nineteenth century. The society and its members were heavily satirised by the press and in caricatures.

Members

The membership of the Pic Nic Society consisted of a number of high profile aristocrats. These included Albina, Countess of Buckinghamshire and Sir Lumley Skeffington.

Caricatures

Besides the caricatures displayed here, the Pic Nic Society were also satirised in 'A Catalanian Pic Nic Society at Private Rehearsal' drawn by Isaac Cruikshank and published by Thomas Tegg in March 1807. The title of the piece references the Italian soprano Angelica Catalani, who made her London debut in 1806. The members of the club are depicted singing different songs alongside one another, with a final member suggesting that there is "exquisite harmony".