"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
"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
"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
"John Bull, blindfolded, is being robbed and bullied by the powers of Europe who are urged on by Pitt. He stands in back view, without his coat, leaning forward with outstretched arms, wearing the wrinkled gaiters by which Gillray denotes the countryman (cf. BMSat 8141, &c). The Emperor (left), wearing a crown and a long ermine-lined robe decorated with a Habsburg eagle, leans forward from the left, and furtively picks his pocket. He holds a document inscribed 'Imperial Loan'. Prussia, as a Death's Head hussar, stands full-face near the Emperor and snaps his fingers at John Bull, holding out in triumph a money-bag inscribed '£2000000'. On the right John is assailed by France and Holland: a lean and ragged sansculotte with clenched fists kicks him behind; a fat Dutchman, holding a tobacco-pipe, puffs a blast of smoke in his face. On the extreme left Pitt stands in profile to the right, holding John Bull's coat and putting his hand into its pocket, he says: "Go it, my Honies, go it! Supple him a little! Supple him!""--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Too many for John Bull
Description:
Title etched at top of image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., and Temporary local subject terms: Games: blindman's buff -- Loans: British loan to emperor Francis I, 1794 -- Prussia -- Holland -- France -- Sansculottes -- Military uniforms: Prussian uniforms.
Publisher:
Pubd. June 12th, 1795, by H. Humphrey, No. 37 New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806 and Francis I, Emperor of Austria, 1768-1835
"Fox, followed by Burke and Sheridan, hastily leaves a vaulted archway from which issue smoke and flames. George Hanger (left) runs in front, holding a burning firebrand; behind him is the White Tower in flames. Fox carries the crown which he partly conceals under his voluminous coat. Burke, dressed as a Jesuit (cf. BMSat 6026), holds the sceptre; he looks with satisfaction at Sheridan, who takes his arm. Sheridan holds the orb; in his hat is an election favour inscribed 'Townsend'. Hanger wears a cocked hat with an election favour, his military coat and tight breeches are in rags; under his arm is a sack labelled 'Unmill'd Coin'. Torn bills pasted on the wall behind Fox's head are inscribed 'the Westminster Election; for the Interest of Lord J. Townsd', and 'Leak's Pills'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Blood and Co. setting fire to the tower and stealing the crown and Blood and Company setting fire to the tower and stealing the crown
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Gillray in the British Museum catalogue., Following imprint: Price 1 s., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Lord John Townshend, 1757-1833 -- Allusion to Captain Mason, fl. 1671 -- Allusion to Thomas Blood, 1618?-1680 -- Tower of London -- Burning of White Tower -- Medical Signs: Pills -- Leake's -- Crowns -- Sceptres -- Orbs -- Election favours -- Attempted thievery: Blood and Mason, 1671 -- Perogatives: Fox's attempt to steal -- Torches: firebrand.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 26th, 1788, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
England and London.
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Hanger, George, 1751?-1824, Townshend, John, Lord., and Great Britain. Parliament
"Thurlow, in his Chancellor's wig and gown, wades waist-deep in the sea, advancing towards the spectator. On his shoulders sits Hastings, in oriental dress, holding in each arm a large money-bag inscribed '£4.000.000'. Thurlow scowls; Hastings has a serene and contented expression. In the water (a sea of blood) are the mutilated corpses of Indians: three heads tied together by the hair float in the water; a man floats with a rope round his neck; there are also a scourge and birch-rod."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image. and Attributed to Gillray in British Museum catalogue.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 1st, 1788, by S.W. Fores, No. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Geographic):
India.
Subject (Name):
Hastings, Warren, 1732-1818 and Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806