"George III, wearing a crown and ermine-trimmed robe is seated in an arm-chair asleep. The tassels of his girdle are thistles, indicative of Scottish influence. Round his neck is a chain from which hangs a cross, indicating the Romanizing tendencies of which he was accused at this time, see BMSat 5534, &c. His crown is being taken from his head by a judge in wig and ermine-trimmed robes, evidently Mansfield. Over the king's shoulder looks a Scot in Highland dress, evidently Bute, holding the sceptre which he has taken from the king's hand. He leans towards Mansfield saying "What shall be done with it?" Mansfield answers, "Wear it Your sel my Leard." On the king's left a man stands who holds in both hands the other side of the crown, he says, "No troth I'se carry it to Charly & hel not part with it again Mon!" He is dressed an an English gentleman, though his language indicates that he is a Scottish Jacobite; he is perhaps intended for some unpopular Scot, perhaps Wedderburn, then attorney-general. Behind the king's chair America, wearing a feathered head-dress, watches the scene; he says "We in America have no Crown to Fight for or Loose." In the foreground (right) sits Britannia asleep, her head resting on her hand; by her side lies the British lion, also asleep and chained to the ground. At her feet are two maps, one of "Great Britain" (torn) lies on one of "America". On the left stands a man in rags with bare legs and dishevelled hair, clasping his hands together and saying "I have let them quietly strip me of every Thing"; he appears to represent the British commercial community. An Irishman next him, a harp under his arm, walks away saying "I'le take Care of Myself & Family". The background to these figures is a hedge; behind it on the right is a Dutchman (the United Provinces) helping himself to the contents of two hives."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from item.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 15th, 1780, by W. Renegal
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Mansfield, William Murray, Earl of, 1705-1793, Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792, and Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character)., Commerce, Sleeping, Beehives, Harps, and Lions
"Gaetan Vestris (right) giving a dancing lesson to a gigantic goose with a human head and long pigtail queue. They face each other in profile. Vestris stands with his legs together, chest thrown out, his arms curved. "Regardez-moi" was his characteristic admonition. On a stool behind the goose is an open book inscribed "Electrical E. E. L."; on the ground at its feet is another inscribed "The Torpedo. Dedicated to Ld------C------. My Lord, I take the Liberty------ The greatness of whose Parts are known. . ." . This indicates that the goose is Lord Cholmondeley (1749-1827), "The Torpedo, a Poem to the Electrical Eel addressed to Mr John Hunter Surgeon" and "Dedicated to . . . Lord Cholmondeley," 4th ed. 1777, was a coarse and scurrilous poem, three lines of which are, "What tho' Lord Ch--lm--d--ly may conceal A most enormous length of Eel Admir'd for Size and bone:"In the wall which forms the background are two sash-windows and a door (left) round which a grinning youth, probably a servant, is looking. On the wall are half length portraits: three in ovals of elderly ladies in profile, one of a clergyman, full-face, wearing a biretta, his left hand on a book. There is also a picture of Fox, with a fox's head, seated opposite Cholmondeley; they are throwing dice. Fox appears satisfied, the other clenches his fist and exclaims in anger. A devil is climbing on the top of the frame and holds out a claw to grab the head of Fox. On the picture are the words "A Nick by God". Like Fox, see BMSat 5972, Cholmondeley held a faro bank at Brooks's. G.E.C., 'Complete Peerage'."-- British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text at bottom of image., Printmaker and date of publication from British Museum catalogue., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
Vestris, Gaëtan, 1729-1808, Cholmondeley, George James Cholmondeley, Marquess of, 1749-1827, and Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806
The Bow Street magistrate and campaigner against gambling, Sampson Wright, is shown seated at a table being assailed by a man who has entered the door on the right. On the left another man (probably meant to be John Bond, Wright's clerk) expresses alarm, and on the right a dismayed youth wipes away a tear
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker and date of publication from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Mounted to 44 x 29 cm.
Publisher:
Publish'd by Bonde at the Thieftakers Office, Bow Street
Subject (Geographic):
England and London
Subject (Name):
Wright, Sampson, Sir, -1793 and Bond, John, active 1782
Subject (Topic):
Threats, Judges, Gambling, Interiors, and Clothing & dress