A companion plate to Le Départ (British Museum satire no. 12362), satirizing the haste of the English to visit France in 1814 and their gluttony and bad dressing. The Frenchman who cooks a cat is a subject of English caricatures on the favourite theme of the beggarly Frenchman and well-fed Englishman. In this print. "A lean Englishman strides on to the quayside from an (invisible) gangway leading to the deck of a packet, which is seen below (right), covered with the heads of passengers, looking eagerly upwards. The furled sails and rigging are on the extreme right; a dove holding an olive-branch sits on a spar. A jovial French cook leads the Englishman, who grasps his left wrist; he points to a doorway on the extreme left, below the sign 'Au Bien Venu'. He holds the white cotton night-cap which was the cap of the French cook, but is not foppish as in English caricature, but manly and sturdy. The traveller is a grotesque figure wearing a hat shaped like a flower-pot, [this hat appears in almost all satires on English costumes in Paris, c. 1814; it is worn by a man dressed à l'Anglais in No. 53 of the 'Bon Genre Series' (? 1813): 'Cheveux à Cherubin. Chapeau en pot à fleurs. Redingote en Robe de Chambre'; cf. J.-P. de Bérenger, 'Les Boxeurs', 1814: Quoique leurs chapeaux sont bien laids / Goddam! moi j'aime les Anglais] long tail-coat, wrinkled breeches, and long ill-fitting gaiters on very thin legs. His profile has an absurdly heavy chin (cf. British Museum no. 12364), and he registers eager expectation. On a flap projecting from a window beside the door are peaches, grapes, pears, &c. Within a courtyard a second cook leans from an attic window, knife in hand, to catch a cat by the tail, one of several scampering from the ridge-pole."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from caption below image., Description from impression in the British Museum catalogue., Lettered "Déposé" below image left., Attributed to printmaker Godisart de Cari and publisher Martinet. See British Museum catalogue., This plate was deposited by Martinet on 1 February 1815, although his name is not actually lettered on the plate. It is a pair to 'Le départ' (British Museum number 1868,0822.7249)., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark, with loss of text at lower left and portions of the image at the corners: irregular sheet 18.8 x 23 cm.
Publisher:
Chez Martinet
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Topic):
History, Foreign public opinion, National characteristics, English, National characteristics, French, Cats, Cooks, Doves, Eating & drinking, Ethnic stereotypes, Gluttony, and Mail steamers
"The Englishman, grossly obese, walks from the door of the inn (left) supporting his paunch on a wheelbarrow which the cook of British Museum satire no. 12361 helps to drag, exhausted by the effort, and mopping his face with his cap. A plank leads from the quayside to a packet-boat, the stern of which appears below, empty except for one expectant sailor. Another sailor's hand appears by the plank, ready to assist the embarkation. The sign of the inn is not depicted, the window flap hangs down. The second cook stands in the courtyard, offering food to a gorged cat on the roof."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Dimensions from impression in the British Museum catalogue., Lettered "Déposé" below image left., Attributed to printmaker Godisart de Cari and publisher Martinet. See British Museum catalogue., This plate was deposited by Martinet on 12 Novemberr 1814, before its pendant 'L'Arrivée' (1868,0808.7249) which logically precedes it. Martinet's name is not actually lettered on the plate., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark, with loss of text at lower left; corners trimmed: 19 x 23.3 cm.
Publisher:
Chez Martinet
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Topic):
History, Foreign public opinion, National characteristics, English, National characteristics, French, Cats, Cooks, Eating & drinking, Ethnic stereotypes, Gluttony, Mail steamers, and Obesity
"A satire on Thomas Herring, Archbishop of York, and the enthusiastic part he played in raising volunteer troops to resist the Jacobite rising. He is shown dressed partly as a bishop and partly as a military officer his episcopal gown tucked up over a lace-edged military coat and waistcoat beneath, he has lawn sleeves but wears gaiters and a gorget, on his back is a knapsack with his mitre on top. He shoulders a gun from the trigger of which is a ribbon lettered O Lord open thou my Lips & my Mouth shall show forth thy Praise. He says 'My [mitre] My Lands My Gold, Church'. A fish is shown above his lace cocked hat in allusion to his name. Behind him are a group of less keen volunteers, on the left lay men march with armed clergy, one saying 'May [he] Starve with us' another carries a standard (large flag?) a cleric says 'I'm a Canon', another claims 'I’ll be Vicar of Bray still', two clerical soldiers on the right complain one saying 'I've 12 Children but no Lands' the other 'Fight I have but 20£ a Year'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Church militant
Description:
Title from text below image., Publication date from British Museum catalogue., The following words within title are represented by a rebus: 'mitred' by a bishop's mitre, 'church' by an image of a church building., Temporary local subject terms: Clergymen -- Emblems: crowned herring for Bishop Herring -- Literature: reference to the song The Vicar of Bray -- Knapsacks -- Church buildings -- Portrayal of a church militant., and Watermark: countermark IV.