"Dumouriez (right) sits in a gothic chair (reminiscent of the Coronation chair), at the royal dinner-table. Three cooks advance towards him, wearing bonnets-rouges with tricolour cockades, aprons, and over-sleeves. They are Fox, the foremost, proffering the steaming head of Pitt; at his belt, in place of a cook's knife, hangs a dagger. Sheridan, on Fox's left, proffers a dish on which steams a broken royal crown. On the extreme left Priestley enters in profile to the right, holding up a dish containing a mitre. The dishes have a garnish of frogs. All look with eager courtesy towards Dumouriez, who sits with famished expectancy, a dagger in one hand, a fork in the other. He is much caricatured, thin, and unshaven, with straggling hair and long pigtail. He wears a large feather-trimmed cocked hat, lace ruffles, a gold-laced and ragged military tunic, a tattered shirt over bare legs. His plate bears the royal arms; other gold plate is in the form of inverted coronets and of a Communion cup with the letters 'SIH' (reversed). Two spoons are decorated with the red hand of a baronet. These objects indicate that Dumouriez has come to overthrow the monarchy, the Church and hereditary rank. On the back of his gothic chair is a red cap of 'Libertas'. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Dedication etched below image: To the worthy members of the Society at the Crown & Anchor ..., Text following title: Vide his own declaration, as printed by the Anti-levelling Societies., and Title from text in image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Dumouriez, Charles François Du Périer,--1739-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons.
"A burlesqued illustration of the quotation from 'Paradise Lost' etched below the design ... In the upper left corner of the design, and in the background, an aged St. Peter holds open a small arched door, putting one of his three massive keys into the lock. The irradiated doorway is 'Popish Supremacy'; through it is seen a table, also irradiated, spread with loaves, fishes (cf. BMSat 10697), and wine. A golden staircase receding in perspective ascends in a curve to the door from the summit of the globe, on which 'Ireland' (the more conspicuous) and 'England' are marked. A procession of petitioners winds up the globe from the lower margin of the design; its leaders have begun to ascend the stairs but have been struck by three mighty blasts of wind. These issue from the mouths of Pitt, Hawkesbury (just below), and Sidmouth (considerably lower) Their profile heads emerge from dark clouds on the extreme left. The blasts have overthrown the leading petitioners: Grenville, in bishop's robes, staggers back with outstretched arms, his crozier and mitre fall, and the Catholic Petition blows from his hands, tattered by the wind, in a stream of 'popish' objects which slants upwards across the design. Immediately behind him, full face, the spectacled Buckingham staggers backward. He is dressed as a monk. In front of the two brothers Moira has fallen on his back on the third stair, kicking wildly, his upright l. leg expressing his characteristic stiff rigidity. He wears a surplice over regimentals and spurred boots, and his sword has broken. He has dropped the halter of the Irish bull on which sits Fox, dressed as a cardinal, the central figure of the design. The bull, snorting flames, rears violently, throwing Fox back into a horizontal position. Round its neck is a tricolour ribbon inscribed 'Order of St Patrick', from which hangs a medal with a profile of 'Buonaparte'; on its head is a bunch of shamrock. Fox is a Papal Legate; he is about to fall, and drops his triple cross to which is attached a tattered tricolour banner, inscribed 'Catholic Emancipa[tion']. His cardinal's hat flies off; from his left hand blows a document with many seals: 'Hierarchical Powers of ye Legate-Cardinal Volpone'. Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Mother Abbess, has fallen headlong from the stairs on to the globe. Her r. hand is on Ireland, resting on an open book: ' . . by the Brighton Abbess System of Education for the benefit of Protestant Children'; her left wrist is on England. Her crozier rests on the globe. Her robes, rent by the fall, display bare posteriors and fat, kicking legs, suggesting the connotation of 'abbess' and bawd, see BMSat 5184, &c. Moira has flung his left arm across her. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Four stanzas of verse below image, two on either side of title: "And now St. Peter at heav'n's wicket seems ... and Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, John Russell,--Duke of,--1766-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville,--Marquess of,--1753-1813--Caricatures and cartoons., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Carlisle, Frederick Howard,--Earl of,--1748-1825--Caricatures and cartoons., Derby, Edward Smith Stanley,--Earl of,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., George--III,--King of Great Britain,--1738-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Gillray, James, 1756-1815, artist., Grattan, Henry,--1746-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Holland, Henry Richard Vassall,--Baron,--1773-1840--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice,--Marquess of,--1780-1863--Caricatures and cartoons., Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson,--Earl of,--1770-1828--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Sidmouth, Henry Addington,--Viscount,--1757-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Spencer, George John Spencer,--Earl,--1758-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., William--IV,--King of Great Britain,--1765-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
"French men-of-war are tossed helplessly by huge waves, which are lashed to fury by blasts from the mouths of (left to right) Pitt, Dundas, Grenville, and Windham, whose heads emerge from clouds. Fox is the (realistic) figure-head of 'Le Révolutionaire' (right) which, with broken masts, is about to founder. He receives the full strength of the blasts from Pitt and Dundas, and looks up despairingly, his head against the tricolour stripes which encircle the mast. Playing-cards float in the water by the ship. On the left 'L'Egalité' is wrecked by a blast from Grenville, which shatters a flag-staff, with a flag inscribed 'Vive . . Egalité'. Behind, a vessel disappears in a whirlpool. In the foreground (left) 'The Revolutionary Jolly Boat' is being swamped under the influence of a blast from Windham; the occupants throw up their hands despairingly: Sheridan, standing in the stern, is still unsubmerged; the others (left to right) are Hall the Foxite apothecary, [So Wright and Evans. He has perhaps more resemblance to Dr. Towers.] Erskine, in wig and gown, M. A. Taylor, and Thelwall, washed overboard, with a paper: 'Thelwall's lectures' (see BMSat 8685). [Wright and Evans put Dr. Lawrence's name between that of Sheridan and Erskine; he is not depicted.]."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Destruction of the French Armada
Description:
Another publication line etched in lower left but mostly obscured within margin of image. and Another signature etched in bottom right portion of image: Js. Gy. des. et f.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Thelwall, John,--1764-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
"The members of the Secret Committee of the Commons are seated round a table examining the documents relating to the United Irishmen and other revolutionary societies. A lamp on the table illuminates a large framed transparency [The transparency, a large pictorial design lit from behind, was a popular form of street illumination. On 5 Nov. 1813 (for the battle of Leipzig) Ackermann displayed on the façade of his 'Repository' Rowlandson's 'The Two Kings of terror, afterwards published as a print. Broadley, i. 338.] divided into four equal sections which hangs from the ceiling and conceals the heads of the Committee ; the four scenes depict the supposed intentions of the revolutionaries. The transparency is irradiated, throwing into deep shadow members of the Opposition in the foreground (right), who flee from the room in a body, terror-struck. The nearest (three-quarter length) are Erskine, clutching a brief-bag, Fox, M. A. Taylor, and Norfolk. Behind these are Tierney, Sheridan, and Nicholls; in the last row are Sir J. Sinclair, Burdett, Moira, Bedford. The two most prominent members, though in back view with heads obscured, suggest Pitt (left) and Dundas (right); they read papers inscribed 'Scheme to Overthrow the British Constitution, & to seize on all public Property and Invitation to the French Republic'. Over the edge of the table hang the bulky 'Reports of the Secret Committee of the House of Commons.' On the floor are four papers: 'Names of Traitors now sufferd to remain at large'; 'Oath of the Members of the Society of the United Irishmen in London'; 'Account of ye Lodge of United Englishmen, & of the Monks of St Ann's Shrine' [see BMSat 9217]; 'Proceedings of the London Corresponding Society with a list of all the Members.' [See BMSat 9189, &c] The transparency is suspended on tricolour ribbons. Titles are engraved on the frame: [1] 'Plundering the Bank'. A scene in the Rotunda; tiny figures hasten off with sacks of gold, the most prominent being Tierney with '£10000'. Sir William Pulteney (identified from his resemblance to BMSat 9212) staggers off to the left with two sacks; the poker-like Moira has a sack on his head; two men dispute over a sack, one being Walpole with his huge cocked hat, the other resembling Jekyll; Sheridan (right) slouches off with two sacks. Proletarians exult over small money-bags. [2] 'Assassinating the Parliament'. The interior of the House of Commons is realistically depicted; the Opposition violently attack the occupants of the Government benches, daggers being the chief weapon. Erskine (left) is about to murder Dundas; Fox strikes at Pitt, holding him by the throat, while Sheridan is about to stab Pitt in the back. The puny Walpole tries to drag the Speaker from his chair, while Burdett raises the mace to smite him. Sir John Sinclair raises a broadsword to smite a man held down by little M. A. Taylor. Volumes of 'Acts and Statutes' fall to the floor. [3] 'Seizing the Crown. \ Scene the Tower'. Exulting plunderers emerge from the gate of the Tower on to the drawbridge. Bedford, dressed as a jockey (cf. BMSat 9380), walks ahead with two sacks: 'New Coinage' and 'New Guineas'; Fox, [Identified by Grego as Lansdowne.] smiling, holds the crown; Lauderdale, wearing a kilt, carries the sceptre. Just behind is Sir George Shuckburgh. Stanhope (or Grattan) carries a sack, 'Regalia of E[ngland]'. On the right a chimney-sweep and others dance round a bonfire in which 'Records' are burning. Cf. BMSat 7354, where Fox carries off the crown from the Tower. [4] 'Establishing the French Government. \ St James s Palace'. French troops march with arrogant goose-step and fixed bayonets into the gateway of the palace; their large tricolour flag is inscribed 'Vive la Republique Français'. In the foreground is planted a tall spear surmounted by a bonnet-rouge (a tree of Liberty, cf. BMSat 9214, &c.); at its base are decollated heads wearing coronets and a mitre. They are cheered by spectators (right): Grattan holding 'Grattans Address', Norfolk holding his staff, Lord Derby in hunting-dress standing on an overturned sentry-box, Moira standing like a ramrod. ...."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title etched below image. and Two lines of text below title: Representing the Secret-Committee throwing a light upon the dark sketches of a revolution found among the papers of the Jacobin societies lately apprehended ...
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, Francis Russell,--Duke of,--1765-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Dundas, Henry,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Gillray, James, 1756-1815, artist. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50033402, Grattan, Henry,--1746-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n97861435, Jekyll, Joseph,--1754-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., Lauderdale, James Maitland,--Earl of,--1759-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Nicholls, John,--1745?-1832--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Pulteney, William--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Shuckburgh-Evelyn, George Augustus William,--Sir,--1751-1804--Caricatures and cartoons., Sinclair, John,--Sir,--1754-1835--Caricatures and cartoons., Smith-Stanley, Edward,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Stanhope, Charles Stanhope,--Earl,--1753-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., and Walpole, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons.
"The resigning Ministers issue from the arched gateway of the 'Treasury', led by Pitt (right) who, with an oratorical gesture, holds out a document: 'Justice of Emancipating ye Catholicks'. Behind him is Dundas (Secretary of State for War), holding Pitt's right arm, and not in the usual Scottish dress (though he wears a tartan waistcoat). He holds a document: 'Advantages of the Union'; from his coat pocket issues a paper: 'Successes in the East'. Next walks Grenville (Foreign Secretary) in peer's robes holding a paper: 'Acquisitions from ye War. Malta, Cape of Good Hope, Dutch Islands' [Ceylon captured 1796]. Behind him walk Spencer (First Lord), holding 'Enemies Ships taken & Des[troyed]', and Loughboroug in his Chancellor's wig. Three heads are dimly visible in the shadow of the archway. From the left the Opposition, in the guise of a plebeian rabble, advance towards the Treasury gate but are held back by a sturdy grenadier sentry at the point of the bayonet. He is back view, with 'G.R' on his busby, and is probably George III, possibly Addington. Facing him, against the Treasury wall, is his sentry-box, placarded: 'G.R Orders for keeping all improper Persons out of the Public Offices'. The rabble are led by Sheridan and Tierney; the former a butcher with cleaver raised to strike, the latter a ragged cobbler wearing a bonnet rouge; he is about to fling a cat which he holds by the tail. Behind them are Jekyll, as a chimney-sweep with brush and shovel, but wearing a barrister's wig and (tattered) gown, Bedford dressed as a jockey and holding out whip and cap (cf. BMSat 9261, &c), Nicholls and Tyrhwitt Jones, both holding up hats with tricolour cockades. At the back are Norfolk, about to hurl a bottle of wine, and Burdett. There is also raised above the crowd an arm which has just hurled a full tankard of 'Whitbread's Entire' [see BMSat 10421]. Other missiles include a lighted squib, a bludgeon, vegetables, and a book: 'Jacobin Charges, Speeches Essays'. Bedford cries: "Push on, dam'me! - work 'em! - its our Turn now!" The sentry answers: "Your Turn! - no, no! - whoever goes out You'll not come in!" In the foreground, on the extreme left, are two dwarfish and ragged little newsboys blowing their horns; on the cap of one is 'Morning Chronicle' [see BMSat 9240]. Below the design: "Men in conscious Virtue bold! "Who dare their Honest purpose hold. "Nor heed the Mob's tumultuous cries; "And the vile rage of Jacobins - despise.""--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, Francis Russell,--Duke of,--1765-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Jekyll, Joseph,--1754-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., Jones, Thomas Tyrwhitt,--Sir,--1765-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Nicholls, John,--1745?-1832--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn,--Earl of,--1733-1805--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Spencer, George John Spencer,--Earl,--1758-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., and Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons.
"John Bull, blind, maimed, and ragged, walks (right to left) near a chasm, the edge of which stretches across the foreground of the design. His wooden right arm terminates in a hook to which is attached a cord from the collar of a lean greyhound with the head of Pitt (as in BMSat 8794). Pitt drags him forward and slightly towards the gulf; in his mouth is a large bare bone, his collar is inscribed 'Licenc'd to Lead'. In John Bull's left hand is a staff, on his back a burden inscribed 'Loans'. He has a wooden leg, which a dog with the head of Sheridan and a collar inscribed 'Licenc'd to Bite' is biting savagely. Behind and on the extreme right is a dog with the head of Grey, and a collar inscribed 'Grey Hound'; he bites John Bull's coat. Fox, a mastiff with a fox's brush, stands behind Pitt, glaring fiercely, on his collar is 'Licenc'd to Bark'. Behind is grass and a tree (left) and in the distance the roofs and spires of London, showing St. Paul's."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
John Bull and his dog Faithful
Description:
A satire on a Dog Tax, April 1796., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., and Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., and St. Paul's Cathedral (London, England),--depicted.
Subject (Topic):
Artificial limbs., Blindness., Debt., Dogs., John Bull (Symbolic character)--Caricatures and cartoons., People with disabilities. , and Taxation of personal property--Great Britain.
"Pitt as, a Roman charioteer, wearing a laurel wreath, is seated in an ornate chariot drawn (left to right) by the British Lion and the White Horse of Hanover (cf. BMSat 8691). He holds the reins, but scarcely controls the galloping pair. One foot rests on a shield bearing a fanged serpent, and wreathed with serpents, inscribed: 'Exit Python Republicanus'. Behind him is a book decorated with a lyre inscribed 'Magna Charta'. Ornate projections from the back of the chariot support the disk of the 'Sun of the Constitution': the Hebrew letters for Jehovah are surrounded by the words COMMONS . KING . LORDS; this is irradiated, the royal arms being etched partly on the sun, partly on its rays, and immediately behind Pitt. Two cherubs fly behind the chariot and on the extreme left; one holds up a 'Bible', the other a family tree of the 'Brunswick Succession': from the base, inscribed 'Ge III', rises 'G IV', from whose circle sprout five stems; beneath is inscribed: 'And future Kings, and Monarchs yet unborn'. A fringed cloth on the back of the horse is covered by the royal arms; one on the lion has Britannia, seated as on coins, but holding up a dagger in one hand, a birch-rod in the other. Both animals dash furiously forward in pursuit of the Opposition. The horse snorts fire; from his forehead thunderbolts dart towards the fugitives. The chariot is on an ascending slope of smooth cloud, lit by the 'Sun of the Constitution' (cf. BMSat 8287, &c.) and strewn with roses which fall from the draperies of Justice, who floats before the chariot, leading it on, her head surrounded by a scroll inscribed 'Honorable Peace, or Everlasting War'. In her left hand she holds up her balanced scales, in her right she grasps a flag-staff on which the British flag floats above a tattered tricolour pennant, inscribed 'Republic'. From under the dark and turbulent edges of the cloud-path the Opposition flee into the void. On the extreme left is the half length figure of a monstrous hag, her hair composed of serpents spitting fire, with a fillet inscribed 'The Whig Club'. In her right hand she holds one of the serpents which issue from her pendent breasts, in the left is an almost extinguished firebrand. She glares up in impotent rage. Beneath the horse and lion (right) are the heads and shoulders of (left to right) Sheridan, Fox, and Stanhope, their hair streaming behind them; each drops a dagger from his raised right hand. Sheridan and Fox have expressions of gloomy terror, Stanhope is melancholy but composed. In the abyss beneath the clouds are three small winged creatures: an owl (left) with the head of Lansdowne, two bats, one with the head of M. A. Taylor, the other (right) with that of Erskine. In their flight they have left behind them on the path of cloud three papers: 'Plan for inflaming the Dissenters in Scotland'; 'A scheme for raising the Catholicks in Ireland' (cf. BMSat 8632); 'Jacobin Prophecies for breeding Sedition in England' (an allusion to Brothers, see BMSat 8627, &c). A second group flees upwards away from the thunderbolts of the Hanoverian horse; from the head of each falls a bonnet-rouge whose peak terminates in a (fool's) bell (cf. BMSat 9374). They are Lauderdale, with clasped hands, the Duke of Norfolk looking round apprehensively, above him the Duke of Grafton, and above again Lord Derby. [Lord Holland gives alternative identifications: Stanhope is Francis, and Grafton is Stanhope. These two, however, closely resemble other heads by Gillray of Stanhope and Grafton.] Above their heads and among the clouds are fleeing serpents, a bonnet-rouge, a book: 'Irruption of the Goths and Vandals. 2d Edition', and a scroll whose ragged edges merge in cloud: 'Patriotick Propositions. Peace, Peace on any Terms. Fraternisation Unconditional Submission No Law, no King, No God.' Another branch of cloud diverges to the left behind Justice. Its upper part is covered with wrecked ships and tiny fleeing figures. These are little sansculottes, all with large bonnets-rouges, one naked, others barelegged except for boots or sabots. They drop their swords."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Sun of the Constitution rising superior to the clouds of Opposition
Description:
Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Derby, Edward Smith Stanley,--Earl of,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy,--Duke of,--1735-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Lansdowne, William Petty,--Marquis of,--1737-1805--Caricatures and cartoons., Lauderdale, James Maitland,--Earl of,--1759-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Stanhope, Charles Stanhope,--Earl,--1753-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., and Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons.
"A carriage (right) drives at a gallop towards the gateway of St. James's Palace; Lord Lansdowne, in peer's robes, puts his head out of the window to call to the coachman, who is lashing the pair of horses: "Drive you dog! drive! - now, or never! - aha the Coast is clearing!------drive! drive! you dog!" He has a sly smile. The carriage is decorated with coronets, and on the door is the beehive crest of Lord Lansdowne and the motto 'Ut Ap[es] Geometriam'. The coachman and three footmen who stand behind have enormous feather-trimmed cocked hats in the French fashion, with bag-wigs. Running behind the carriage with outstretched arms are: Fox, saying, "Stop! stop! - & take me in, - Stop!"; Sheridan saying, "And me too! stop", and (very small) M. A. Taylor, saying, "And me". In the background a similar carriage is driving yet more rapidly out of the Palace gateway; the tiny figures are recognizable: Dundas, the coachman, has dropped the reins, the horses are running away; Pitt, terror-stricken, puts his arms through the windows. Both look up at a dove with an olive-branch which flies over their heads towards the gateway. In the background are part of the Palace and the houses at the SW. corner of St. James's Street."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title from item. and Year of publication from British Museum catalogue.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Lansdowne, William Petty,--Marquis of,--1737-1805--Caricatures and cartoons., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., and Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons.
Subject (Topic):
Great Britain--Politics and government--1789-1820--Humor.
"Pitt, a colossal figure (cf. BMSat 8980), bestrides the Rotunda of the 'Bank of England'. His arms and legs are very thin, but his body is formed of a (transparent) sack distended with gold coins and inscribed '£'. His elbows are akimbo, his hands grasp the sides of the sack; from the little finger of his left hand hangs a key, 'Key of Public Property'. Round the mouth of the sack is a heavy chain clasped by a padlock inscribed 'Power of securing Public Credit'. From the sack emerges the pipe-like neck down which coins are passing. Pitt looks arrogantly to the right, a blast issues from his closed lips of many paper notes inscribed 'one'. Near his mouth are a few gold coins which he is presumably inhaling. He wears a crown formed of 'one' pound notes; through it project his ass's ears. The near side of the Rotunda is removed, showing a descending shower of paper and an ascending cluster of coins which are being drawn upwards to join those in the sack. Little figures in and around the rotunda, under Pitt's legs, hold up their hands in dismay at the shower of £1 notes. Among them is a John Bull wearing a smock. Two men hold papers inscribed 'Dividend'; a Jew walks off (left) with 'Scrip'. On the left, behind Pitt's right foot, is the sea-shore; large reeds at its edge blow towards him; among these are five heads wearing bonnets-rouges, each with a label issuing from his mouth: 'Midas has Ears'. They are Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, M. A. Taylor, and (?) Grey. They diminish in size from Fox to Taylor. Across the sea is 'Brest', from which a fleet is setting out. Behind it are black clouds, and an explosion rises from them in which are swarms of tiny figures holding daggers and wearing bonnets-rouges. This spreads behind Pitt's head who appears unconscious of it. He looks down towards three almost naked winged figures: Grenville (left) and Dundas (right) hold up between them a scroll: 'Prosperous state of British Finances. & the new Plan for diminishing the National Debt - with Hints on the increase of Commerce'. Between and above them is Windham, Secretary-at-War, a pen behind his ear. He waves his cocked hat, Grenville his coronet, and Dundas his Scots cap. Beneath the title: 'History of Midas, - The great Midas having dedicated himself to Bacchus [cf. BMSat 8651], obtained from that Deity, the Power of changing all he Touched - Apollo fixed Asses-Ears upon his head, for his Ignorance - & although he tried to hide his disgrace with a Regal Cap, yet the very Sedges which grew from the Mud of the Pactolus, whisper'd out his Infamy, whenever they were agitated by the Wind from the opposite Shore - Vide Ovid's Metamorposes.'"--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Midas transmuting all into paper
Description:
Title etched below image. 'Gold' in title scored through.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bank of England., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville,--Baron,--1759-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Grey, Charles Grey,--Earl,--1764-1845--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Melville, Henry Dundas,--Viscount,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.