"A tun of 'Wine' lies on solid trestles inscribed 'Treasury Bench'. From its huge bung-hole emerges the naked body of Pitt, as Bacchus, crowned with vine branches. He leans back tipsily, a brimming glass in each hand. Behind him stands Dundas as Silenus, fat, and partly draped in tartan; his right hand grasps Pitt's shoulder, in his left he holds up a brimming glass. He also is crowned with vine branches. Bunches of grapes hang down from a vine above their heads and are indicated as a background to the cask whose trestles are on a dais covered with a fringed carpet. Opposite the tun stands John Bull in profile to the left, looking up at Pitt, hat in hand; in his left hand is a lank purse, under his arm three empty bottles. He is a yokel, with lank hair and hydrocephalic head, wearing a smock and wrinkled gaiters. He says: "Pray Mr Bacchus have a bit of consideration for old John; - you know as how I've emptied my Purse already for you - & its waundedly hard to raise the price of a drop of Comfort, now that one's got no Money left for to pay for it!!!" Pitt says: "Twenty Pounds a T-Tun, ad-additional Duty i-i-if you d-d-don't like it at that, why t-t-t-then Dad & I will keep it all for o-o-our own Drinking, so here g-g-goes old Bu-Bu-Bull & Mouth!!! - "."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Triumph of Bacchus & Silenus and Triumph of Bacchus and Silenus
Description:
Title etched below image., Temporary local subject terms: Wine duty, 1796 -- Mythology: Bacchus -- Silenus -- Containers: wine casks -- Allusion to Treasury., and Watermark: I Taylor.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 20th, 1796, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, and Dionysus (Greek deity)
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), Taxes, Wine, Grapes, Barrels, and Purses
"Fox stands on a dais at the head of a rough table, the seat from which he has risen is magnificent, above it is the inscription 'Vive la Libertè' surmounted by a bonnet-rouge. He is held up (left) by Combe, the Lord Mayor, a pompous figure in gown and chain, and (right) by Erskine. The former holds a 'Petition to ye Throne; - or a new way to Combe the Ministers Wig'; the latter grasps a bottle of 'Brand[y]'. Fox is melancholy, and his swollen legs cannot support unaided his vast bulk. Before him is a frothing pot of 'Whitbread's Entire' (cf. BMSat 8638). Only the guests on Fox's right and left are visible; they are Grey (or perhaps Byng), [Incorrectly identified in Wright and Evans as Sir J. Sinclair. Identifications of Grey by Lord Holland appear conclusive, but he is identified in 'London und Paris' as Byng, M.P. for Middlesex, and he resembles the Byng of BMSat 8782.] turning to watch his chief, and Tierney, looking gloomily before him. Behind Tierney are the heads of a butcher, with marrow-bone and cleaver, and a chimney-sweep with brush and shovel. All listen intently to Fox, who says: "Gentlemen, you see I'm grown quite an Old Man in your Service! Twenty Years I've served you, & always upon the same Principles; - I rejoic'd at the Success of our Enemies in the American War! - & the War against the Virtuous French Republic has always met with my most determined opposition! - but the Infamous Ministry will not make Peace with our Enemies, & are determin'd to keep Me out of their Councils & out of Place! - therefore Gentlemen! as their Principles are quite different from mine, & as I am now too Old to form myself according to their Systems, my attendance in Parliament is useless: - & to say the truth, I feel that my season of action is past, & I must leave to younger Men to Act, for alas! my failings & weaknesses will not let me now recognise what is for the best!""--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Last dying speech of the Westminster representative ...
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed to plate mark at the top and bottom., Temporary local subject terms: Speeches: C.J. Fox's speech, October 10, 1800 -- Allusion to the War of American Independence -- Allusion to Napoleonic wars-- Taverns: Shakespeare Tavern, London -- Lord Mayor of London -- Chairs: thrones -- Emblems: cap of liberty as bonnet rouge -- Dishes: tankards -- Beverages: Whitbread's Entire (beer) -- Reference to Samuel Whitbread, 1758-1815 -- Petitions: London Livery's petition -- Furniture: chairs -- Spirits: brandy -- Harvey Christian Combe, 1752-1818., and Mounted to 48 x 30 cm.
Publisher:
Publishd. October 13th, 1800, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Tierney, George, 1761-1830, Erskine, Thomas Erskine, Baron, 1750-1823, Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845, and Byng, George, 1764-1847
"The lion, with the face and wig of Melville, lies gazing up, blood falling on the papers under his paws: 'Plans for Manning tfthe Navy - List of ships built in 1804 ... of ye Line'; 'Abolition of Impress'. He is struck down by the blast from a blunderbuss whose muzzle is a tankard inscribed 'Whitbreads Entire'. This is fired by St. Vincent who crouches (left) behind a withered tree. The blast issues from a circle of froth inscribed 'Report'. Part of it, inscribed 'Condemnation without Trial', passes above the lion and strikes Britannia to the heart. She is leaning against an ancient but flourishing oak on the extreme right. The blast that strikes Melville is inscribed 'Invectives', 'Popular Clamour', 'Envy', 'Disappointed Jacobins', 'Malice'. On the upper part of the withered tree sits a monkey with the head of Wilberforce, holding up an open book: 'Solution of Vital Xianity', but directing at Melville a blast from his posteriors inscribed 'Cant! - Envy! - Abuse! - Hypocrisy! - Cruelty.' Three asses are kicking up their heels at Melville as they scamper off towards the mountainous background. The nearest has the head of Sidmouth, with ass's ears. He is laden with panniers inscribed 'Physick for the Lion.'; these are heaped with medicine-bottles, one labelled 'Emetic for ye Lion'; there are also a 'Clyster for the Lion', and a box of 'opening Pills' (cf. BMSat 9849), The other asses are Hily Addington and Bragge, cf. BMSat 9986. The latter (right) turns his head to say: "Very highly indebted to the Lion, brother Heeley!" His panniers are inscribed 'Provisions for the Doctors Family' and 'Trifles procured thro' the Lions Generosity'; they are piled high with papers: 'Pension to Brother Brag &...'; 'Annuity to all our Cousins'; '£40000 pr Ann'; 'Sinecure'; 'Pension for Aunts'; 'Pension for Brother Hely'; 'Pension'. The other ass (Hiley) answers: "Then give him another kick, Brother Braggey". He is laden with a sack of 'Candid Whorehound'. The lion is also assailed by a fox (Fox) who viciously bites his hindquarters, and by a serpent with the head of Grey (Whitbread's brother-in-law) who bites his neck. Three small rats, wearing legal wigs and bands (right), run viciously toward the lion; they are (left to right): Jekyll (see BMSat 9179), Erskine, and Robert Adair, an ardent Foxite, cf. BMSat 7158. A dog, its collar inscribed 'Kinard' (Kinnaird), bites the lion's tail, while one foot is in a plate containing a bare bone, and inscribed 'Melville-Castle' with a coronet."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Three lines of quoted text following title: "And now, all the sculking herd of the forest, some out of insolence, others in revenge ..." Vide, Aesop's fables., and Mounted to 31 x 43 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 16th, 1805, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Wilberforce, William, 1759-1833, Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811, Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Erskine, James Francis, 1743-1806, and Kinnaird, Charles Kinnaird, Baron, 1780-1826
A ragged sansculotte sits astride a lamp brackets high above a square where a crowd, all wearing bonnets-rouges and all watching the beheading of Louis XVI. He fiddles as he smiles down at the scene. Hanging below him from the same lamp post are two monks and a bishop, their hands bound. Further in the distance are more hung bodies and a cathedral in flames
Alternative Title:
Pinnacle of liberty
Description:
Title etched below image, left., One line of text below title: Religion, justice, loyalty, & all the bugbears of unenlighten'd minds, farewell!, and Mounted to 47 x 30 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Feby. 12th, 1793, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Name):
Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793
Subject (Topic):
Death and burial, Sansculottes, History, Clergy, Crowds, Fires, Guillotines (Punishment), Hangings (Executions), Liberty cap, Revolutions, and Scales
Kemble, in tattered theatrical dress, stands at the gate of Northumberland House in the Strand, holding out his hat and bowing to the obese and oafish-looking Duke of Northumberland, who is placing a "Draft for 10,000 Pounds" in the hat; in his right hand he holds a paper which lists donations. Kemble is followed by his brother Charles and his sister Mrs. Siddons, both of whom are weeping. Her reticule is stuffed with papers and is inscribed "Humble solicitations..."
Alternative Title:
New dramatic resource : "a begging we will go! A scene from Covent Garden Theatre after the conflagration
Description:
Title etched below image. and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Publishd. Jany. 15, 1809, by H. Humphrey, St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
England and London.
Subject (Name):
Kemble, Charles, 1775-1854, Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823, Northumberland, Hugh Percy, Duke of, 1742-1817, Siddons, Sarah, 1755-1831, Strand, The (London, England), and Covent Garden Theatre.
Subject (Topic):
Fires, Fools & jesters, and Harlequin (Fictitious character)
"A terrified French civilian is about to be impaled on a spike planted in the desert. He is carried by two Turks, in a sitting posture, one supporting his legs, and clasps in the left hand a paper: 'Le Prophete demasqué', while in the right is raised a large volume: 'L'Imposture de Mahomet'. A Mohammedan priest follows the group, declaiming from his open 'ALKORAN'. A stout Turk with a long spear stands (left) facing the victim and directing operations. In the background is a Frenchman holding on his head a large turban, his discarded hat lying on the ground. He looks over his shoulder with a grin at the impending execution."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., One of seven plates on the French Expedition to Egypt by Gillray, purported to have been drawn by a fellow expedition member., Temporary local subject terms: Egyptian campaign, 1798-1801-- Military: French soldiers -- Frenchmen: civilian Frenchman -- Turks -- Mohamedan priests -- Executions: impalement -- Weapons: spears -- Guns: rifles -- Books: Koran -- Allusion to Copies of Original Letters From the Army of General Bonapart in Egypt, Intercepted by the Fleet., and Watermark: 1794 J Whatman.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 12th, 1799, by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
"A face, wearing a plumed military hat, looks to the right out of a ferociously spurred military jack-boot which stands in profile to the left. The back of the head is concealed by the peak of the boot, which protects the wearer's knee. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Title continues: ... and nobody can say, Mistress Cole, why did you so?, Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Literature: reference to Samuel Foote's Minor., and Watermark: Edmeads & Co.
Publisher:
Pubd. 16 Decr. 1797 by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street
"An elaborate composition, divided by the arc of a rainbow which supports a woman who stands at a large dark canvas daubing at a goblin-like bearded figure intended for Titian. She holds a palette and brushes, but her paints are mixed together in an earthenware pot like those used by house - or sign-painters (as in BMSat 7770); this stands on the rainbow at her feet; an ass with the wings of Pegasus kneels to drink greedily from it. His wings are covered with words: 'Review', 'Magazines', 'Advertis[er]', 'Squib', 'Herald', 'Times', 'True Briton', 'Puff' [repeated many times], 'World', 'Morning Chronicle', 'Evening Post', 'Star', 'Sham Abuse', 'Squibbs', 'Oracle', 'Courier'. Above the canvas, and at the apex of the design, is an eagle surrounded with flames, and the centre of rays which illuminate black clouds in the upper part of the print; in its claws is a scroll: 'Venetian. Manuscript'. The artist is poised on high-heeled shoes, her quilted petticoat is ragged, but from her waist hangs a vast train which drapes the rainbow and terminates in peacock's feathers. This is held up by three naked Graces. Along the rainbow is etched: 'redeunt Titianica regna, jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto'. Part of a reflected rainbow issues from the painting on the canvas, with a fainter version of the inscription '. . . va pro[gen]ies . . . demittitur alto', letters being concealed by the hair of the artist and by a flamboyant winged figure seated on the rainbow; he blows his trumpet, from which issue the words: 'You little Stars, hide your diminish'd Head[s].' These words terminate in thick clouds from which five stars fall like meteors, leaving trails inscribed: 'Rubens', 'Correggio', 'Michael Angelo', 'Raphael', 'Parmegiano'. Beneath the rainbow is a paved floor. In the foreground (left) the head and shoulders of (the ghost of) Sir Joshua Reynolds emerge, pushing up one of the stones; he is draped in a shroud, but wears spectacles; in his right hand is his ear-trumpet, his left is raised admonishingly ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Seven-wise-men consulting the new Venetian oracle
Description:
Title etched below image., Text above image: Ah! ha! Ah! ha! Messrs. Van-Butchell! Ireland! Charles! Lane & Lackington! What are you now? ah! ha! ah! ha! ha! ha! ha!!!, Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Matted to 72 x 56 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 2d, 1797, by H. Humphrey, St. James's Street
"Another version, reversed, of BMSat 8132. Paine (right) lies as before, but his legs and feet, which were hidden by straw and by cloud, project from under his coat, and the crisping of his toes indicates agitation caused by his dream. The three headless judges (left) with dependent scrolls are as before, with the addition of a cloud-shaped scroll ascending from the central wig, inscribed: 'Know Villain, when such paltry slaves presume To mix in Treason, if the Plot succeeds They're thrown neglected by - but if it fails Theyre sure to die like dogs! as you shall do.' In place of the prison wall is a glory of rays issuing from a sun in the centre of which are the scales of Justice. This is surmounted by shackles and by a scroll inscribed "The Scourge inexorable, and the tort'ring hour, awaits thee". Beneath are, as before, a gibbet (with the addition of a ladder) and a pillory. Between them are a scourge and birch-rod tied together. The inscriptions on the three scrolls are as before except that in 'Charges' 'Falshoods' takes the place of 'Lies', and to 'Punishments' is added 'Extinction from Society'. The inscriptions on Paine's book, &c, are as before except that the alternative title of 'Common Sense is or convincing Reasons for Britons turning Sans Culottes.' The fleurs-de-lis on the tattered curtain are larger and more conspicuous. Above the bed, in place of the crumbling wall, is an open casement window out of which flies a terrified demon with his tail between his legs; he holds a fiddle, but drops his bow and a sheet of music inscribed 'Ca-ira'. Through the window appear clouds and a full moon."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Reversed version, with some different and some additional elements in the image, of a print with the same title published in November 1792. Cf. No. 8132 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., Temporary local subject terms: Poverty -- allusion to Paine's Common Sense -- Guardian angels -- Vermin: rats -- Writing supplies -- Architectural details: casement windows -- Furniture: straw beds -- Pillories -- Gibbets -- Shackles -- Torture: scourge -- Wigs: judges' wigs -- Trials: pleas -- Charges -- Punishments -- Liberty cap as a nightcap -- Literature: allusion to Paine's Rights of Man -- Symbols: fleur de lis -- Symbols: striped pillow as pro-American sentiment -- Symbols: scales of Justice -- Music: c̦a ira -- Demons., 1 print : etching on wove paper ; plate mark 29.4 x 36.6 cm, on sheet 37 x 50 cm, mounted to 37 x 56 cm., and Watermark: J. Whatman 1811.
Publisher:
Pubd. Decr. 10th, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804