"Pitt (left) as a bank-clerk, very thin and much caricatured, a pen thrust through his wig, stands behind an L-shaped counter offering a handful of bank-notes to John Bull. In his right hand is a scoop with which he sweeps up notes from the counter. John is the yokel of BMSat 8141, but no longer bewildered; he stands stolidly, holding out his left hand for the notes, his right hand in his coat pocket. Fox (right), who wears a high cocked hat with tricolour cockade, bag-wig, and laced suit, says to him: "Dont take his damn'd Paper, John! insist upon having Gold, to make your Peace with the French, when they come". Sheridan bends towards John, saying, "Dont take his Notes! nobody takes Notes now! - they'll not even take Mine!" John answers: "I wool take it! - a' may as well let my Measter Billy hold the Gold to keep away you Frenchmen, as save it, to gee it you, when ye come over, with your domn'd invasion." Behind (right) hands of other Foxites are raised in warning, and on the extreme right is the profile of Stanhope. Behind (left), men hasten towards Pitt with large sacks of notes on their heads. The first two, in judge's robes, are Loughborough with a sack of '20 Shilling Notes', and Kenyon with one of 'Five Pound Notes'. Behind is Grenville with a sack of '10 Shilling Notes'. Other sacks whose bearers are hidden are inscribed '5 Shilling No[tes], 2 Shillin No[tes]', and 'One Shilling'. Under Pitt's counter is a row of large sacks of gold, padlocked and inscribed '£'. On the end of the counter, facing the spectator, is posted a bill headed: 'Order of Council to the Bank of England'."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image. and Temporary local subject terms: Sacks of money -- Bank notes.
Publisher:
Pub. March 1st, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805, and Kenyon, Lloyd Kenyon, Baron, 1732-1802
"A barrister (three-quarter length) in wig and gown stands directed to the left, his right arm raised, his brief in his right hand, his left hand extended. He says: "Did your Lordships ever hear of such an infamous Scoundrel?" He has a certain resemblance to Erskine, cf. British Museum satire no. 8502."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched above image., By Gillray using pseudonym 'A.S.' See British Museum catalogue., One of a set of eight satirical portraits, each issued separately., Two lines of text below image: Did your lordship ever hear of such an infamous scoundrel?, and Mounted to 18 x 14 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany. 6th, 1795, by H. Humphrey, N. 37 New Bond Street
"From a cylindrical stone vat filled with steaming liquid protrude the legs and arms of a negro, who is being held under the surface by a fierce-looking overseer with the handle of a scourge. The overseer stands on a ladder (right), saying, "B-t your black Eyes! what you can't work because you're not well? - but I'll give you a warm bath, to cure your Ague, & a Curry-combing afterwards to put Spunk into you." On the wall above his head are nailed up, in a row with a bird, a fox, and ferrets (vermin), a black arm and two ears. Through a doorway (right) palm-trees are suggested. Beneath the title is etched: 'Mr "Frances [sic] relates "Among numberless other acts of cruelty daily practised, "an English Negro Driver, because a young Negro thro sickness was unable to "work, threw him into a copper of Boiling-Sugar-juice, & after keeping him, "steeped over head & Ears for above Three Quarters of an hour in the boiling "liquid, whipt him with such severity, that it was near Six Months before he "recover'd of his Wounds & Scalding"------Vide Mr Frances Speech, corroborated by Mr Fox, Mr Wilberforce &c &c.'."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text in image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed to plate mark on three sides., Temporary local subject terms: Barbarities -- Barbarities to blacks -- Overseers -- West Indies -- Enslaved people -- Motion to abolish slave trade, April 18, 1791 -- Allusion to Charles James Fox, 1749-1806 -- Allusion to William Wilberforce, 1459-1832 -- Allusion to Sir Philip Francis, 1740-1818., Matted to 36 x 49 cm., and Watermark.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 23d, 1791, by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street
"Addington and Hawkesbury, in the gateway of the Treasury (inscribed 'Granary'), snare three bats with the heads of Grey, Sheridan, and Tierney. Addington kneels on one knee holding out a dark lantern and a hat with a tricolour cockade filled with papers inscribed 'Sinecure', 'Place', 'Annuity', 'Pension', 'Post'. Hawkesbury, standing behind him, holds out a net supported on two sticks in which to catch the creatures which fly, like harpies, straight towards Addington, dazzled by the lantern's rays. Grey's eyes are fixed on the lantern, those of Tierney and Sheridan, the last with an expression of eager greed, on the papers in the hat. Beside Addington is a sack of 'Sterling British Corn', overflowing with guineas. After the title: '"Bat-catching, (says Buffon,) does not require much art, for, flying always in the Night, they are easily attracted by a Dark-Lanthorn & being always hungry, may be easily caught, by a few Cheese-Parings, or Candle Ends; - they are so rapacious, that if they once get into the Granary, they never cease devouring, while there is any thing left." - Vide. Buffon's Nat: His. Article Birds of Night.'"--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image. and Mounted to 32 x 40 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany. 19, 1803, by J. Gillray, 27 St. Jamess [sic] Street
Subject (Name):
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of, 1770-1828, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Tierney, George, 1761-1830, and Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845
"John Bull (left), a stout countryman wearing jack-boots, rides (right to left) through a wood on a wretched hack, ready to fall under his weight. Pitt kneels on the ground (right) in profile to the left, aiming a blunderbuss (which is supported on crossed sticks) point-blank at John; it is inscribed 'Standing Army'. He masquerades as a beggar: his dress is tattered, on the ground is his hat, containing coins; he says: "Good Sir, for Charity's sake \ "have Pity upon a poor ruin'd Man; - \ "drop if you please, a few bits of \ "Money into the Hat, & you shall \ "be rewarded hereafter -" From his coat-pocket project a cocked pistol and a paper: 'Forced Loan in reserve'. He points to a document on the ground beside him: 'Humble Petition, for Voluntary - Contribution Subscriptions & new Taxes, to save the Distres'd from taking worse Courses.' John Bull has dropped his righteins and holds his hat, full of guineas; he looks with melancholy distrust at Pitt, but drops guineas into his hat. His horse, disfigured with sores, is evidently the white horse of Hanover, its head-band is red and blue, the Windsor uniform (cf. BMSat 8691, &c). From the bushes behind Pitt emerge the heads and shoulders of (right to left) Dundas, Grenville, and Burke, each with a pistol levelled at John Bull. Dundas wears Highland dress, Grenville peer's robes and a grenadier's cap with the letters 'Wm R' (cf. BMSats 7479, 7494, &c.): he looks down reflectively at Pitt instead of at his victim, implying that he is his cousin's henchman; Burke has a pen in his hat. On the left is a signpost pointing (right) 'From Constitution Hill' (cf. BMSat 8287) and (left) 'To Slavery Slough by Beggary Corner.'"--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
John Bull escaping a forced loan
Description:
Title etched below image., Temporary local subject terms: Highwaymen -- Beggars -- Weapons: blunderbuss -- Pistols -- Petitions -- Reference to Loyaly Loan -- Symbols: White Horse of Hanover -- Coins: guineas -- Signposts., and Mounted to 32 x 48 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Decr. 10th, 1796, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, and Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834
"The interior of a room in a cottage. General Gunning (left) as an old gipsy-woman, but wearing a military coat, is seated (on a drum) at a table, facing his daughter. In place of a sword he wears a broom. He seals a letter, a number of seals and a letter 'To D------ of M------' [Marlborough] are on the table beside him. Miss Gunning holds a pack of cards (the ace of spades uppermost) to her lips, saying, "I Swear that I never wish'd or tried directly or indirectly to get a Coronet; that I never saw or writ to Lord B------[Blandford] or Lord L--------- [Lorne], in all my Life; - that Men are my aversion; - & that I never had any thing to do with, with the Groom, in all my born days; - Will that do, Dad?" He answers, "Well done, Bett! we'll get thro' the Business I'll warrant you; - we can write with all sorts of hands, we've got all kinds of Seals, & with the assistance of our old Friend under the Table, we shall be able to gu them yet daughter but I must be Mum". Through a hole in the boards under the table the Devil emerges, surrounded with flames, he holds up a torch exultantly, saying "Swear!" Gunning melts his sealing-wax in the torch, the right is an open hearth over which hangs a cauldron full of coronets. Beside it (left) sits Mrs. Gunning, blowing the fire with a pair of bellows formed of a book: 'Letter to the D------ of A' (see BMSat 7983). She says: "That's right, my sweet innocent Angel! say Grace boldly! make haste my dear little lovely Lambkin! - I'll soon blow up the Fire, while Nauntee-Peg helps to cook up the Coronets; we'll get you a nice tit-bit for Dinner, before we've done, my dear little deary." Opposite her and on the extreme right an old woman, dressed in rags stands over the cauldron with a spoon, saying, "Puff away, Sister! the Soup will soon boil - law's me, how soft the Green Peas do grow, & how they Jump about in the Pot when you Puff your Bellows!" Behind her is a placard: 'Waltham Abbey - by Peg Niffy'. (Mrs. Gunning, née Minifie, was said in the Press to have written a novel called Waltham Abbey, this she denied. 'Letter . . .', p. 89.) On the wall behind Miss Gunning is a print of the pillory (the punishment for perjury) and a bill: 'Affidavit of Eliz: Canning.' Behind her father are 'The Life of a Soldier', 'The Man of Honor a Catch', and 'The useful Groom a new song'. Through a door (left) behind Gunning is seen a groom holding a horse; he says, "I'm ready to ride, or swear, or any thing". A signpost points 'to Blenheim'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Peep at the conjuration of Mary Squires & the Gypsey family
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll -- Allusion to George William Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll -- Allusion to George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough -- Allusion to George Spencer, 5th Duke of Marlborough -- Literature: allusion to Susannah Gunning's Waltham Abbey -- Interiors: cottage -- Pictures amplifying subject: title page of Waltham Abbey -- Pictures amplifying subject: pillory -- Furniture: tables -- Military drums -- Coronets -- Utensils: ladles -- Inkpots -- Seals -- Sealing-wax -- Minifie, Margaret "Auntee Peg"., and Watermark: armorial shield with fleur-de-lis on top and initials G R below.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 25th, 1791, by J.M. Fobes [sic], N. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Canning, Elizabeth, 1734-1773., Squires, Mary, -1762., Gunning, Mrs. 1740?-1800 (Susannah),, Gunning, Miss 1769-1823 (Elizabeth),, Gunning, John, -1797, and Minifie, Margaret
Subject (Topic):
Bellows, Brooms & brushes, Card games, Cauldrons, Devil, Drums (Musical instruments), Fireplaces, Grooms (Weddings), Playing cards, and Torches
"A lean and elderly virago (three-quarter length) with straggling hair, wearing a handkerchief which scarcely covers her breast, stands in profile to the left, glaring fiercely. Her arms are bare to the elbow; she holds her thumb and second finger together, her left hand is on her hip. Etched below her are her words: "What do you know, you B-? -every one knows I am a - & a -, and setting that aside who can say black to my eye?" Her profile is that of Lady Cecilia Johnston as caricatured by Gillray. She had a bitter tongue ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched above image., By Gillray using pseudonym 'A.S.' See British Museum catalogue., One of a set of eight satirical portraits, each issued separately., Three lines of text below image: What do you know, you B-? Every one knows I am a - & a -, and setting that aside who can say black to my eye?, Watermark: J Whatman?, and Mounted to 17 x 13 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany. 6th, 1795, by H. Humphrey, N. 37 New Bond Street
A man dressed as a coachman stands directed to the left, holding a long-lashed coach-whip. He wears a shiny round hat with cockade and gold band over a powdered wig with double row of curls, double-breasted waistcoat, shirt-frill, and loose coat reaching to the knee
Description:
Title from caption below item. and The man is identified by Wright and Evans as Bates, a gamekeeper of George III, said to be a favourite, but dress and appearance make this seem doubtful. See British Museum catalogue.
Publisher:
Publish'd April 23 by H. Humphrey 27 St. James's Street
Title from manuscript note below item., Printmaker, publisher, and publication date identified in British Museum catalogue., Variant state of no. 11592 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 8., and "Touched" in pencil by the artist.
Publisher:
Publish'd April 23, by H. Humphrey 27 St. James's Street
"Lord Howe (left) sits cross-legged on a tailor's shop-board working at a naval coat which lies across his knees. He holds up a threaded needle in his right hand; in his left are shears with which he is about to cut the thread. He says, "I have now finish'd my Seven Years Plan of the N-v-l Uniform; next the Marines must be Blue, faced with White, & White Buttons. I shan't let the Guardships cruize as formerly, a bad plan, give me young Officers that know little, then I may shew my skill - The word Merit should be expung'd from the Dictionary. Next Year I must set a few more of the old Ninety Two's aside, & have smart young Admirals. I'll have a general reform soon." Beside him is a tailor's goose, &c. Behind him (right) five naval coats in course of completion hang from a row of pegs, two have elaborately wide cuffs, one of which is decorated with an anchor. Beneath the board on which Howe sits are demons from whose operations smoke rises to surround him. Two grotesque nude creatures (left), one very thin, the other obese, are on the top of a circular platform which rests on a mast flying an ensign. They are cooking a goose, a cabbage, and a cucumber, all emblems of the tailor, cf. BMSat 5805, &c. The place where the 'cabbage' (pilfered cloth) was kept was called Hell. Grose, 'Dict. Vulgar Tongue', 1796. Next them a large devil with a gridiron under his arm stretches out his talons, saying, "And I'll have a general Reform soon as I shall get you before you are aware of it. I've ting'd your Heart so may safely leave you to go on."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Black-Dick turned taylor and Black-Dick turned tailor
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., and Watermark: Strasburg Lily.
Publisher:
Pubd. Feby. 4th, 1788, by G. Humphrey, No. 48 Long Acre
Subject (Name):
Howe, Richard Howe, Earl, 1726-1799 and Great Britain. Royal Navy