"Two enormously fat courtesans sit side by side on a settee which they completely fill; between them and on the knees of both sits the Duke of Norfolk, a wine-glass in his left hand, in his right he holds the hand of one of the women at whom he gazes with a smile. Both women look amorously at him; they are dressed decorously and without extravagance. At the Duke's feet lies his baton as hereditary Earl Marshal. Above the two women is etched: (left) 'The Royal Sovereign, was formerly to be seen by all admirers of Natural Curiosities at Sixpence pr Head, & is reported to weigh near Forty-Stone', (right) 'Nell H--t--n, weighs rather under Thirty Stone; & in the absence of the Great Man, his place is agreeably filled by T------ W-----d, the celebrated collector on the Highway.' After the title is etched: 'Vide. Strand Lane; Temple Barr; &c. &c. &c.' [places frequented by prostitutes]."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Rich pickings for a noble appetite
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Furniture: settees -- Dishes: wine glasses -- Emblems: baton of Hereditary Earl Marshall., and Watermark: Armorial shield with fleur de lis above and monogram W below.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 1792 by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
"Three burly French fishwives carry on their backs through the water three English visitors from a boat on the extreme right. Two other fishwives stand in the water by the boat trying to persuade a stout and angry lady to entrust herself to them; a Frenchman in the boat also addresses her. On the shore (left) a group of French people waits their arrival: foremost is a postilion standing in the huge milk-churn boots (worn only on horseback) which so much surprised English visitors. He holds out a paper inscribed 'Poste Royale'. A hotel servant holds back the postilion and proffers a card inscribed 'Hotel d'Angleterre'; he wears a nightcap with a bag-wig and ruffles and stands 'chapeau-bras'. Beside him is a rival tout, a dwarfish man or boy dressed in a slovenly manner, his feet in sabots stuffed with straw; he holds out a card inscribed 'Hotel.... Behind them' (left) are a monk and a fishwife with a basket on her back, her bare feet in sabots shaped like mules but stuffed with straw. A dog, grotesquely shaved in the French manner, completes the group. Cliffs (left) form a background. The foremost passenger is a typical John Bull wearing top-boots; he has an expression of fixed determination, his wig slips from his head and his hat is falling into the sea. Next is a lady wearing a riding-habit and a high-crowned hat. A younger man, fashionably dressed, with high hat, long breeches, and short boots, leers down at the woman who carries him. The fishwives are dressed alike with frilled muslin caps, loose jackets, and short petticoats; they wear ear-rings, and crosses hang from their necks."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Landing of Sir John Bull & his family at Boulogne sur Mer
Description:
Titles in French and English etched below image., Printmaker and artist from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: The Grand Tour.
Publisher:
Publishd. May 31st, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
"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., Year of publication from British Museum catalogue., Temporary local subject terms: Vehicles: coaches -- London: St. James's Palace -- Domestic service: footmen -- Coachmen -- Pavement -- Symbols: dove with an olive-branch -- Nicknames: Shelburne as Malagrida -- Allusion to Gabriel Malagrida, 1689-1761., Mounted to 33 x 47 cm., and Watermark.
Publisher:
Pub. March 16th by H. Humphrey, Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834
"A scene at a faro-table; part of the table, including an angle of the central well, stretches across the foreground, players and spectators sit and stand behind it. Lady Archer is the most prominent; she holds a pack of cards in one hand, a knave in the other, looking with a triumphantly rapacious smile at a stout lady (? Mrs. Hobart) who sits (right) clenching her fists and scowling back. All the others have expressions of alarm or concern, the least agitated being the Prince of Wales, seated on Lady Archer's left. On the extreme right and next Mrs. Hobart is Fox, turning up his eyes. The guests (except the Prince) are much caricatured; one of Gillray's witch-like hags sits between the Prince and Mrs. Hobart. On the table are heaps of coins, notes or bills, and rouleaux of guineas. Above the design is etched 'The Knave wins all'. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Friendly party in high life and Knave wins all
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Dedication following title: To those earthly-divinities who charmed 20 years ago this honorable method of banishing mortifying reflections is dedicated., One line of text below title: O Woman! Woman! Everlasting is your power over us, for in youth you charm our hearts, and in your after-years you charm away our purses., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Gambling: faro -- Playing cards -- Furniture: faro table -- Money., and Window mounted.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 31st, 1792, by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Archer, Sarah West, Lady, 1741-1801, George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Buckinghamshire, Albinia Hobart, Countess of, 1738-1816
"Fox (right) kneels in profile to the left, firing point-blank from a blunderbuss at a post which roughly suggests George III in back view: it is surmounted by a short wig and a hunting-cap decorated with the royal arms; round a protuberance simulating posteriors a circle is drawn with a bull's-eye at which Fox is firing. He is much caricatured, with large head and short fat legs; he wears a slouch hat with the inscription 'Ca-Ira', and has a pleased and sinister smile. Behind him Priestley (left) and Sheridan (right) face each other in profile with conspiratorial smiles. Sheridan is ramming the barrel of a pistol, saying, "Well! this new Game is delightful! - O Heavens! if I could but once Pop the Post!!! then you and me, - Dear Brother P, - Would sing with glee, - Full merrily Ca-ira! Ca-ira! Ca-ira!" Priestley holds out to him two books: "on the Glory of Revolution and on the Folly of Religion & Order", saying, "Here's plenty of Wadding for to ram down the Charge with, to give it force, & to make a loud Report.""--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Swedes practising at a post
Description:
Title from text in image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to the assassination of Gustavus III of Sweden, March 1792 -- Guns: blunderbuss -- Pistol -- Targets: George III as a shooting target -- Toadstools -- Arms: royal arms -- Literature: books by Joseph Priestley satirized -- Music: c̦a ira., and Watermark: Whatman.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 19th, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804
"Lord Lonsdale as Satan is seated in triumph, his right foot resting on a sack of 'Coals from the Infernal Pitt.' (Pitt gave Lowther his peerage, see BMSat 6579.) Peter Pindar (Wolcot) (left) kneels on one knee at his feet, with clasped hands, beseeching mercy. A lawyer (right) whose legs are twisted serpents crouches at his left hand writing 'Peter Pindar' in a book inscribed 'Black List'; he is the coachman of BMSat 8155. Lonsdale is a magnificently arrogant figure with horns, wings, and muscular legs which are bare from the knee, his toes being talons; he resembles the Satan of BMSat 6027. He wears an earl's coronet inscribed 'Evil be thou my Good', and a military coat with epaulettes. From his mouth issues two streams of flame ... In his left hand, which rests on his knee, is a flaming torch inscribed 'Epistle to Lord Lonsd[ale] by Peter Pindar'. Behind his head is a large halo from which radiate tongues of flame that reach to the margins of the design, each with an inscription. ... The last inscription points at the lawyer as the first does at Pindar. Pindar's clothes are ragged, toes protrude through a tattered shoe. ... From his pocket project two books: 'Odes upon Cowardice' and 'Odes of Importance alias Conciliatory Odes'. The latter, published in 1792, contained an 'Ode to Lord Lonsdale', in which Lonsdale is urged to imitate the King's forbearance towards 'the poet's harmless wit'; it is by no means abject, and threatens him with an independent jury and Erskine's irony. ... Lonsdale's attorney holds 'Briefs' and 'Writs' under his left arm, on which a brief-bag is hung. The coals issuing from Lonsdale's sack are inscribed: 'Covetousness', 'Dissimulation', 'Rapine', 'Treachery', 'Malice', 'Cruelty', 'Envy', 'Pride', 'Ingratitude', 'Deceit', 'Swindling', 'Rapine', 'Meanness'. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Peter Pindar crouching to the devil
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Text following title: Sketch'd from the peep-hole at Scalegill., Dedication etched below title: To the worthy inhabitants of Cumberland, this impartial representation of the virtues of his Infernal Majesty, is respectfully dedicated., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Bag of coals -- Allusion to William Pitt, 1759-1806 -- Lawyers' brief bags -- Black lists -- Quills -- Emblems: earl's coronet -- Uniforms: military officer's uniform -- Torches -- Prayers -- Crimes: libel -- Haloes -- Literature: Pindar's Ode to Lord Lonsdale in Odes of importance, alias conciliatory odes -- Literature: Pindar's Commiserating epistle., and Mounted to 47 x 36 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 8th, 1792 (for the proprietor) by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Lonsdale, James Lowther, Earl of, 1736-1802 and Pindar, Peter, 1738-1819
"The heads and shoulders of the King and Queen (left) and of Dundas (right) face each other; Dundas holds a letter with a broken seal postmarked Bristol; he leans forward with a satisfied and cunning smile, saying, "Seringapatam is taken! Tippo is wounded! & Millions of Pagodas secured." He wears a plaid across his shoulders and a legal wig. The King and Queen, much caricatured, have expressions of surprised delight; George III, who wears a hunting-cap, raises his hands, saying, "Tally ho! ho! ho! ho!" Queen Charlotte, beside and behind him, says, "O the dear, sweet Pagodas"."--British Museum online catalogue, description of an earlier state of the same composition
Alternative Title:
Nincumpoop in high glee
Description:
Title from text in image., Printmaker from description of an earlier state in the British Museum catalogue., Later state of a print originally published with the imprint: Pubd. May 23d, 1792, by J. Aitken, Castle Street, Leicester Fields. Cf. No. 8094 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., and Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to the fall of Seringapatam -- Allusion to Tipu Sultan, Fath ʻAli, Nawab of Mysore, 1753-1799 -- Allusion to the 3rd Mysore War, 1790-1792 -- Windsor uniforms.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 23d, 1792, by H. Humphrey
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, and Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811
"A satire on the struggle between Pitt and Thurlow travestied as a scene from 'Paradise Lost'. Pitt (left) is Death, wearing the king's crown and using a long sceptre as a weapon. Thurlow (right) is Satan; he raises the (breaking) mace to smite, and holds out an oval shield decorated with the bag of the Great Seal and a tiny woolsack. The Queen, as Sin, naked, with snaky locks (Medusa-like), and two writhing serpents for legs, interposes with outstretched arms, looking with terrified face at Thurlow in her desire to protect Pitt. She is a hideous hag with pendent breasts; from her snaky hair hangs a large key inscribed 'The Instrument of all our Woe', and evidently symbolizing Secret Influence ... Pitt's naked body is emaciated and corpse-like; from his shoulders hangs a long ermine-trimmed cloak; his sceptre radiates darts of lightning. His face expresses alarm and determination. Behind him, and guarding the gate of Hell which is indicated by a stone arch, is Cerberus, with the profile heads of Dundas, Grenville, and Richmond, looking up at Thurlow; their body terminates in a large serpent with a barbed tail. Thurlow has wings, and is naked except for a quasi-Roman kilt. He wears his Chancellor's wig, his profile and eyebrow are of a terrifying fierceness; serpents twine round his shield, and spit fire at Pitt and the Queen; a serpent entwined in Pitt's crown, and others in the Queen's snaky locks, retaliate. On the right are the flames of Hell in which demons are flying; smoke fills the background. Beneath the design is etched: 'NB: The above performance containing Portraits of the Devil & his Relatives, drawn from the Life, is recommended to Messrs Boydell, Fuselli & the rest of the Proprietors of the Three Hundred & Sixty Five Editions of Milton now publishing, as necessary to be adopted, in their classick Embellishments.'"-- British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Six columns of verse from Milton's Paradise Lost, four above the image and two below: "... black it stood as night, Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as hell, And shook a dreadfull dart: what seemd his head, The likeness of a Kingly crown had on;' ... "Had not the Snaky-Sorceress that sat, "Fast by hell-gate, and kept the fatal Key, "Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rushd between.'", One line of text in bottom of design: NB: The above performance containing portraits of the Devil & his relatives ..., and Mounted to 36 x 49 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. June 9th, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Shakspeare Gallery., Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, and Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806
Subject (Topic):
Cerberus (Greek mythology), Medusa (Greek mythology), and Serpents
"Fox (right), capering with excitement, raises a dagger in his right hand, as if to strike a grotesquely stout and short lady, who faces him, throwing back her arms. Both faces, especially that of Fox, have the exaggerated expressions of ranting actors in melodrama."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
"Strike home! and I will bless thee for the blow!"
Description:
Title etched above image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Daggers -- Spouting., and Mounted to 37 x 28 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 14th, 1792, by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806 and Fox, Elizabeth, 1750-1842
"The King and Queen, much caricatured, sit side by side in a latrine, above which is part of the royal arms, the lion looking down apprehensively and excreting. They look in horror towards Pitt, who rushes in, terrified, from a door (right), holding out a paper inscribed 'News from Sweden', and saying, "Another Monarch done over!" He is grotesquely thin. The King rises slightly, holding his stomach, and saying, "What ? Shot ? What ? what ? what ? Shot! shot! shot!" He wears a nightcap tied with a ribbon inscribed 'Honi Soit qui M . . . '. The Queen is a shrunken and huddled figure; both have grotesquely agitated expressions."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
News of shooting the King of Sweden
Description:
Title from item., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Date of printing based on that of Bohn's suppressed plates., Sheet trimmed to and within plate mark., Reissue, probably from Bohn, ii, suppressed plates. Cf. No. 8080 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., and Temporary local subject terms: Interiors: latrine -- Male costume: royal night cap -- Emblems: burlesqued royal arms -- Allusion to assassination of Gustavus III.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 11th 1792 by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806