The devil to pay the wife metamorphos'd, or, Neptune reposing after fording the Jordan. [graphic]Gillray, James, 1756-1815, printmaker[24 October 1791]eng"A large bed, its head surmounted with the Royal Arms (sketchily burlesqued), and with loosely draped curtains, extends almost across the design. In it the Duke of Clarence lies asleep, Mrs. Jordan sits up with a rapt air, saying, "What pleasant Dreams I have "had To-night! methought I was in Paradise, upon a bed of Violets & Roses, "and the sweetest Husband by my side! . . ." [&c. &c] a quotation from Coffey's play 'The Devil to pay: or, the Wives metamorphosed'. Nell Jobson the cobbler's wife finds herself (temporarily) in the place of Sir John's lady. See Baker, 'Biog. Dram.', 1812, ii. 161. On a chair (left) are the Duke's naval coat and a pair of breeches; on a stool (right) a petticoat and pair of stays. Under the bed is a chamber-pot inscribed 'Public Jord[an] open to all Parties'."--British Museum online catalogueTitle etched below image.Printmaker from British Museum catalogue.Eleven lines of quoted verse, in three columns, etched below image: "Ten thousand transports wait, to crown my happy state ..."Sheet trimmed to plate mark.Temporary local subject terms: Interiors: bedrooms -- Furniture: royal beds -- Chairs -- Stools -- Female costume: corset -- Naval uniforms: Duke of Clarence's uniform -- Sleeping -- Expressions of speech: jordan -- Allusion to Richard Ford, ca 1759-1806, Mrs. Jordan's husband -- Literature: quotation from Charles Coffey's (d. 1745) The Devil To Pay, Or, The Wives Metamorphosed -- Chamber pots.