"On the right is 'The old Building', an inn of old-fashioned construction with a projecting upper story and attic, representing Great Britain or the Constitution. On the left is the king, apparently asleep, driving off to Hanover in a coach with a crown on its roof. Two men and a barefooted woman who holds up two naked infants kneel beside the coach in attitudes of despairing entreaty. In the upper left corner of the print, above the coach, an eye looks towards the 'Old House' labelled, 'Turn out those Robbers and repair the House'. The robbers in possession are members of the Coalition. The lowest story, stone-built and solid but sinking beneath the weight of the upper floors, is inscribed 'Public Credit', a large padlocked gate being inscribed 'Funds'. Outside it sits Fox, in the form of a fox, on a stone inscribed 'Protector'; he points towards the padlock. A chain attached to his waist is attached to a curving pillar, inscribed 'Coalition', which is the bending support of a balcony. Beside him, seated on a turnstile, is North saying, "Give me my Ease And do as you Please". On the other side of the gateway the crown stands on a block inscribed 'To be Sold'. The first floor is supported by two massive beams or props, one, 'The Lords', being intact (indicating the part taken by the Lords in rejecting the India Bill), the other, 'Prerogative of the Crown', is almost chopped through by one of two lawyers in a first-floor window inscribed 'ye two Lawyers'; he sits with one leg over the sill wielding an axe. Beside him projects from a beam the sign of the house, 'Magna Charta', a torn document with a pendant seal; the signboard is dropping down. He is Lee the Attorney-General, pilloried for his speech on the East India Company's Charter, see British Museum Satires No. 6364, &c. Next him is another lawyer, who shakes his clenched fist towards 'Magna Charta'. He is perhaps James Mansfield (1733-1821) who succeeded Lee as Solicitor-General (Nov. 19) on the death of Wallace. The first-floor balcony, an excrescence on the original structure supported by the pillar Coalition, extends round the corner of the house above Fox and North. It is filled with revellers: a harlequin leans over it, next him is Burke, who blows a long trumpet from which issue the words 'Sheridan Sheridan Sheridan dan Sheridan', pointing towards a group on his left which includes a man (Sheridan?) flourishing a bottle and dressed as a clown or zany (cf. British Museum Satires No. 7273), and two women, one of whom resembles the Duchess of Devonshire. Beside her a large flag projects from the balcony, 'Man of the People'; on it is a fox's brush. On the rails of the balcony is a placard 'Here's the Whore of Babylon the Devil and the Pope'. The wall behind is inscribed 'The old Building'. The projecting windowless attic or cornice is divided, in front of the house into partitions numbered from 1 to 10. Round the corner (right) the wall is inscribed 'The accursed 10 years American War fomented by opposition and misconducted by a timid Minister'. The roof is composed of stones or large irregular slates, on each of which is the word 'Tax', showing that the security of the house is endangered by the weight of taxes. On it sits a bird, probably a raven of ill omen."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
View of the old house in Little Brittain and View of the old house in Little Britain
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Letter "S" in "Strand" in imprint is etched backwards., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Mounted to 29 x 46 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Ian. 23, 1784, by W. Humphrey, No. 227 Strand
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Lee, John, 1733-1793, Mansfield, James, Sir, 1733-1821, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Cavendish, Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire, 1757-1806
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Taverns (Inns), Foxes, Clowns, and Carriages & coaches
JH identified as monogram for James Hook. See British Museum catalogue., Title from item., Sheet trimmed to plate mark at top., and Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice: iii.3.21; iv.1.206 -- Trials of Warren Hastings -- India.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 17th 1788 by S.W. Fores, N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Hastings, Warren, 1732-1818, George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Plumer, Thomas, Sir, 1753-1824, Dallas, Robert, Sir, 1756-1824, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, and Ellenborough, Edward Law, Baron, 1750-1818
JH identified as monogram for James Hook. See British Museum catalogue., Title from item., Sheet trimmed to plate mark at top., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice: iii.3.21; iv.1.206 -- Trials of Warren Hastings -- India., 1 print on laid paper : etching ; sheet 40 x 56 cm., folded and mounted to 37 x 56 cm., and Sheet trimmed to and within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 17th 1788 by S.W. Fores, N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Hastings, Warren, 1732-1818, George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Plumer, Thomas, Sir, 1753-1824, Dallas, Robert, Sir, 1756-1824, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, and Ellenborough, Edward Law, Baron, 1750-1818
Title from item., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Literature: Quotation from John Dryden, 1631-1700, King Arthur or the British worthy -- General elections -- Defeat of Fox -- Allusion to the defeat of the East India Bill, 1783 -- Crowns -- Devil -- Laurel wreaths -- Chains -- Pitchforks -- Angels., Partial watermark: initials L V G under shield., and Mounted to 29 x 37 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. as the act directs, by J. Brown, Rathbone Place
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Title from item. and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd accg to act. Feby. 17, 1780 by D. Long
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792, and Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806
Five pairs of implacable enemies are shown in the act of reconciliation. Britannia and America clasp hands on the left; behind them the Duke of Richmond takes the hand of Parson Bate ; in the center foreground Fox (with a fox's head) brings together Shelburne and Lord Denbigh, the latter having the body of a dog; behind them are Sir Hugh Palliser and Admiral Keppel, and on the far right John Wilkes and George III shake hands
Alternative Title:
Wonders wonders wonders and wonders
Description:
Title from item. and See no. 6162 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 5 for another print with the same title, on a similar theme.
Publisher:
Publish'd as the act directs Novr. 9, 1782 by I. Langham print coulerer No. 84 Dorset Street Salisbury Court Fleet Street
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Wilkes, John, 1725-1797, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Denbigh, Basil Fielding, Earl of, 1719-1800, Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806, Dudley, H. Bate Sir, 1745-1824 (Henry Bate),, Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786, and Palliser, Hugh, Sir, 1723-1796
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character), Shaking hands, and Clothing & dress
Title and imprint from British Museum catalogue, Temporary local subject terms: Toppling buildings -- Staff of Liberty -- Pictures amplifying subject -- Allusion to many politicians of the day -- Allusion to Gustavus III, King of Sweden., Watermark: fleur-de-lis with initials G R below., and Mounted to 31 x 46 cm.
Publisher:
Publish'd as the act directs July 1, by J. Wjsen [sic] Walbrooke
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character), Columns, Liberty cap, Rats, Emblems, Shields, and Thrones