Brooke, William Henry, 1772-1860, printmaker, artist
Published / Created:
[1 September 1813]
Call Number:
813.09.01.02
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
"Plate from the 'Satirist', xiii. 193. In the text the title continues '. . ., "alias" War'. A satire on the Congress of Prague. Four sovereigns, completely unlike the men in question, in conference. The Tsar sits behind a small rectangular table on which are displayed implements of war in miniature: cannon, pyramids of cannon-balls, muskets, swords, drums, &c., and flags on one of which are fleurs-de-lis. On the left stand the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria, on the right is Napoleon. Alexander extends his hands rhetorically, turning to the left, with a puckered scowl, to say to the two Germans: "Come Gentlemen see first if you can agree--if not we'll all fight!" He has quasi-Kalmuck features, and wears an odd-shaped crown, an ermine-bordered robe, with a jewelled necklace and a Greek cross. Frederick William III, on the extreme left, clutches the hilt of his sword and puts his left hand to his cocked hat as if ready to doff it, he turns to Francis I, towards whom a label issues from his mouth: "I am ready to treat or to fight"; a second label floats to the left, inscribed 'Infernal Scoundrel'. Francis I, looking distracted, stands directed to the right, legs apart, and in his left hand is his sabre, the blade of which curves over the Tsar's head, but both hands touch his crown, and he says: "I will wear an independant Crown." He wears hussar uniform, cloak, sash, and elaborately embroidered tunic and pantaloons. Napoleon, tall and burly, with heavy whisker and aquiline profile, wears a plumed bicorne with tricolour cockade and very tattered uniform leaving his legs almost bare, with one dilapidated jack-boot and one damaged stocking; he has a long sword. He stands aggressively with arms dramatically extended, saying, "My Friends! all we wish is Peace." A chain is attached to each great toe, which is fastened to the necks of two miserable princes, tiny figures standing between his outstretched legs. One (left), Charles IV of Spain, wearing a crown and robe, grotesquely knock-kneed and despairing, stands full-face. The other, wearing a crown with uniform and sword, stoops in profile, looking up abjectly at Napoleon's legs. On the extreme right, in the middle distance, is a tall Spanish don, much emaciated, wrapped in a cloak. He looks down with folded arms at a fat British officer beside him, who says: "I ll countenance Austria into our interests." The Spaniard: "I'll be damned if I go to meet a Frenchman in Prague, while there is a Frenchman to meet in Spain!!!" Behind them in the background a tiny Napoleon, wearing a grotesque crown and holding a sword, marches downhill at the head of his soldiers carrying flags; he has a melancholy expression and approaches the edge of a precipitous descent."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Satirist 1st September 1813
Description:
Title etched below image., Date of publication from text above image: Satirist 1st September 1813., and Plate from: The satirist, or, Monthly meteor, v. 13, page 193.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821, Alexander I, Emperor of Russia, 1777-1825, Frederick William III, King of Prussia, 1770-1840, Francis I, Emperor of Austria, 1768-1835, Charles IV, King of Spain, 1748-1819, and Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821.
Subject (Topic):
Heads of state, Summit meetings, Cannons, Flags, Military uniforms, Daggers & swords, Crowns, and Chains
Armorial bookplates: Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex; Ex musaeo Huthii., Dedication signed: Richard Wates., Illustrated with 29 woodcuts (3 repeats)., Imperfect: a few foot-lines very slightly bled., In verse., and Wing (CD-ROM, 1996) W1060
Publisher:
Printed for John Wright, at the Crown upon Ludgate-Hill, and Thomas Passinger, at the three-Bibles on London-Bridge
Subject (Name):
Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, 1773-1843 --Provenance and Huth, Henry, 1815-1878 --Provenance
Two women stand on a balcony, mouths open in song and eyes cast downward at their music sheet. They wear corsetted dresses and feathered head wear. A satire of the duet performed by Harriet Abrams (1758-1821), the English soprano and composer, and her sister Theodosia (ca. 1770-1849), a contralto, on 9 May 1788 at Hanover Square Rooms. The piece performed was 'Gia che mia sposa sei' by Antonio Sacchini, and the occasion was the annual benefit concert for the tenor Samuel Harrison
Alternative Title:
Duet at the Hanover Square concert
Description:
Title etched below image., After a drawing by John Nixon, now in the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, Foundling Museum, London. The artist's "JN" monogram and "1788" date are etched within center left portion of image., Imperfect; sheet trimmed within plate mark with loss of imprint statement from bottom edge. Imprint supplied from impression in the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, Foundling Museum, London., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum., and Laid down onto album paper, with a cropped portrait of an unidentified man on the verso: I. Hiresman pinx. ; M. Vdr. Guchta sculp.