"George IV as the 'Great Babe' lies asleep in his cradle rocked by Lady Conyngham, while Wellington, seated before a pier-glass, places the crown on his own head. The glass reflects the dark emaciated features of British Museum Satires No. 15520. The Duke wears a uniform with boots and sword. On a table below the glass the sceptre and orb lie on a cushion. Lady Conyngham, with a towering coiffure as in British Museum Satires No. 15508, croons: Oh slumber my darling | The time may soon come | When thy rest may be broken | By Trumpet & Drum [the last three words in large letters]. The infant sucks a thumb; a gouty foot projects from the coverlet. On the floor is a line of toys: a sailing boat on wheels, a model of Buckingham Palace reconstructed by Nash as in British Museum Satires No. 15668, a giraffe (see British Museum Satires No. 15425), a Life Guard on a toy horse, a Foot-Guard, a dismantled or unfinished ship resting on a prostrate toy soldier. A napkin on a towel-horse (right) indicates a nursery."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Print signed using William Heath's device: the character Paul Pry, a man with an umbrella., Date of publication from British Museum catalogue., and Sheet trimmed to plate mark.
Publisher:
Pub. by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket, London
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Conyngham, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness, -1861, and Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852
Subject (Topic):
Nurseries (Rooms & spaces), Cradles, Toys, Military uniforms, British, Daggers & swords, Boots, and Scepters
Wellington drives a large new coach pulled by three horses with human heads. He is dressed in a a triple-caped greatcoat and broad brimmed hat and flicks the long whip with skill on the backs of the horses depicted with the heads of John Bull and on either side, stock characters of an Irishman and Scotsman wearing traditional hats. They ride on a road labelled "national debt' as the horses hoves sink in the mud labelled "sinking fund." Peel rides behind in the conductor's seat. One of the four curtains on the windows of the omnibus is pulled aside to reveal George IV about to kiss Lady Conyngham. The splash board of the new omnibus is painted with the gold initials 'GR' and a crown
Alternative Title:
Omnibus
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Printseller's announcement following publication statement: sole publisher of WH's etchings.
Publisher:
Pub. Oct. 15th, 1829, by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Conyngham, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness, -1861, George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, and Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852
Subject (Topic):
Catholics, Catholic emancipation, Debts, public, John Bull (Symbolic character), Economic conditions, Buses, and British