"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:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., A satire on a Dog Tax, April 1796., and Mounted to 31 x 46 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 20th, 1796, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845, and St. Paul's Cathedral (London, England),
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), Taxation of personal property, Artificial limbs, Blindness, Debt, Dogs, and People with disabilities
"Pitt (right) stands stiffly in profile to the left, holding open a large sack-like wallet inscribed 'Requisition Budget'. He addresses John Bull, the central figure, a stout yokel, who holds out his breeches in his left hand to Pitt, while he touches his hat. The budget and the breeches pockets are full of guineas. Pitt says: "More Money, John! - more Money! to defend you from the Bloody, the Cannibal French - They're a coming! - why they'll Strip you to the very Skin - more Money. John! - They're a coming - They're a coming." Dundas, Grenville, and Burke kneel on the right, bending towards the 'Budget', each with his left hand in an opening in a vertical seam, eagerly grabbing guineas. Behind them is the stone archway of the 'Treasury', with its high spiked gate. Dundas, the most prominent, wears Highland dress and holds a Scots cap full of coins. Grenville wears a peer's robe; Burke is behind. They echo Pitt: Dundas says "Ay! Ay! They're a coming! They're a coming!" Grenville: "Yes! Yes, They're a coming." Burke: "Ay They're a coming." John says: " - a coming? - are they? - nay then, take all I've got, at once, Measter Billy! - vor its much better for I to ge ye all I have in the World to save my Bacon, - than to stay & be Strip'd stark naked by Charley, & the plundering French Invasioners, as you say". His coat and waistcoat are sound, but the pockets hang inside out, empty. His lank hair, knotted kerchief, and wrinkled gaiters denote the small farmer. Behind (left), on the shore, stands Fox looking across the water towards the fortress of 'Brest' flying a tricolour flag. He hails it with upraised arms, shouting: "What! more Money ? - O the Aristocrat Plunderer! - Vite Citoyens! - vite! - vite! depechez vous! - or we shall be too late to come inn for any Snacks of the I'argant! - vite Citoyens! vite! vite!""--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
John Bull giving his breeches to save his bacon
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed to plate mark on left and bottom edges., and Temporary local subject terms: Yokels -- Money: guineas -- Treasury -- Male dress: Highland dress -- Budgets: Pitt's speech, Dec. 7, 1796
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 7th, 1796, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, and Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797
"Pitt sits astride a huge pile of bundles strapped to the back of a bull (John Bull); he is about to enter a high archway inscribed 'Trea[sury]'. His pose and expression combine jauntiness with dignity. His head is in profile to the right, his right hand on his hip, he wears a large bag to his wig, and while pressing his hat under his left arm holds the (slack) reins of the bull; his long thin leg hangs considerably above the bull's back, owing to the height of the bundles. The sturdy bull, though with downcast head and closed eyes, is not weighed down with his burden. Dundas (right), in Highland dress, marches grinning in front of the bull, playing the bagpipes which are inscribed 'Union Pipes' and have a transparent bag filled with coins. The bull's burden consists of ten superimposed bundles, inscribed with figures relating to the Loyalty Loan. Some of these are '50 000!, 30 000!, East India Company 2 000 000!!!, Duke of Queensbury 100-000!, 100 000!, Pit[t] D. dass 10000 [partly obscured by Pitt's foot], 50000, Duke of Bridgewater 100 000!, Corporation of London 100 000!' Behind the bull and on the extreme left are crowded together four British Jacobins, much caricatured, wearing bonnets-rouges and looking up at Pitt with anger and dismay. Their heads rise vertically one behind the other; the foremost and lowest is Fox, clenching his fist, next Sheridan in profile; then Stanhope, the fourth a mere scrawl."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Watermark: Strasburg bend with date 1798?, and Mounted to 42 x 29 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. by W. Holland, Oxford St.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, Duke of, 1736-1803., and East India Company.
Subject (Topic):
Finance, Public, Economic conditions, John Bull (Symbolic character), Debts, Public, Loyalty Loan, and Musical instruments