"A scaffold extends across the foreground: Fox raises an axe to strike the neck of George III, whose head is held by Sheridan. The scaffold is surrounded by a dense and cheering mob. On the right is the gate of the 'Crown & Anchor' tavern, and from two projecting lamp-brackets swing the bodies of Queen Charlotte and Pitt. The houses of the Strand recede in perspective and terminate in Temple Bar, with two heads on spikes; clouds of smoke appear to come from burning houses east of Temple Bar. On the clouds a meretricious Liberty sits enthroned and triumphant. The King's neck rests on a narrow block, his shaved head appears bald, his legs are held up by Horne Tooke, who stands on the left, saying: "O, such a day as this, so renown'd so victorious, Such a day as this was never seen Revolutionists so gay; - while Aristocrats notorious, Tremble at the universal glee." From Tooke's pocket projects a paper: 'Petition of Horne Tooke' (against the return of Fox and Hood for Westminster, see BMSat 7690). The King, who supports himself on his hands, says, "What! What! What! - what's the matter now". Fox, enormously stout, straddles behind the King, full face his axe raised in both hands; he wears a mask with large circular eye-holes and fox's ears; he says: "Zounds! what the devil is it that puts me into such a hell of a Funk? - damn it, it is but giving one good blow, & all is settled! - but what if I should miss my aim! - ah! it's the fear of that which makes me stink so! - & yet, damnation! what should I be afraid of? if I should not succeed, why nobody can find me out in this Mask, any more than the Man who chop'd the Calf's-head off, a Hundred & Forty Years ago - and so here goes!" Sheridan kneels in profile to the left holding the King by the ear and nose, he looks up at Fox with a sinister scowl, saying, "Hell & Damnation, dont be afraid give a home stroke, & then throw off the Mask - Zounds, I wish I had hold of the Hatchet." Priestley, behind Sheridan, leans towards the King, saying, "Don't be alarmed at your situation, my dear Brother; we must all dye once; and, therefore what does it signify whether we dye today or tomorrow - in fact, a Man ought to be glad of the opportunity of dying, if by that means he can serve his Country, in bringing about a glorious Revolution: - & as to your Soul, or any thing after death don't trouble yourself about that; depend on it, the Idea of a future state, is all an imposition: & as every thing here is vanity & vexation of spirit, you should therefore rejoice at the moment which will render you easy & quiet". He holds a paper: 'Priestley on a Future State'. Sir Cecil Wray stands with his right hand on Sheridan's shoulder, saying, "Here do give me a little room Joseph that I may be in readiness to catch the droppings of the Small Beer when it is tapp'd; I never can bear to see the Small Beer wasted Joseph!" He holds in his left hand a small cask, 'For Small Beer', and a large pipe; in his pocket is a paper: 'Plan of Chelsea Hospital by Sir Ceci[l] Wray'. The Queen is cruelly caricatured; she swings against Pitt, who is in a death agony with crisped fingers."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from caption below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Plate numbered "57" in upper right corner., Restrike for Bohn's "Supressed plates". Cf. no. 7892 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., On same sheet, verso: Alecto and her train at the gate of Pandaemonium ..., and Printed 1851.
Publisher:
Pubd. July 19th, 1791, by S.W. Fores, No. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, Queen, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812, Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804, and Wray, Cecil, Sir, 1734-1805
"The King sits impassively in his badly damaged state coach, which is being assailed by a mob; facing him sit two courtiers in abject terror. Pitt (right), dressed as the coachman, drives furiously, lashing the horses, the hind legs only of the wheelers being visible on the extreme right. These are trampling on Britannia who lies prostrate, her shield and broken spear beneath her. Four footmen in striped liveries stand behind, one holding the straps; the others hold each other's waists: Loughborough, the Lord Chancellor, wearing his wig, stands next the coach; behind him is Grenville, then Dundas, wearing a plaid and with a bottle projecting from his coat-pocket. Last is Pepper Arden wearing a judge's wig. All, like Pitt, wear jockey-caps. Lord Lansdowne (right), a sansculotte, composedly fires a blunderbuss point-blank through the coach window, aiming at the King. Fox and Sheridan, facing Lansdowne, run beside the coach, holding on to it. Both are tattered ruffians brandishing clubs, but wear breeches. The other three assailants cling to the spokes of the back wheel to stop the coach: (left to right) the Duke of Grafton, neatly dressed and wearing a cocked hat with tricolour cockade, Lord Stanhope, and little Lord Lauderdale, both wearing bonnets-rouges. Behind, a sea of heads indicates the mob; they carry a tricolour flag inscribed 'Peace and Bread' and a loaf draped with black and spiked on a pitchfork. A cat, stones, and eggs shower on the coach, the crown on the top of which is broken."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Temporary local subject terms: Mob -- Attack on George III's coach on October 29, 1795 -- Coaches: royal state coach -- Crowns: broken crown -- Guns: blunderbass -- Domestic service: footmen -- Hats: jockey caps -- Bonnets rouges., and Mounted.
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 1st, 1795, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811, Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, and Alvanley, Richard Pepper Arden, Baron, 1745-1804
Subject (Topic):
Assassination attempts, Britannia (Symbolic character), Carriages & coaches, Cats, Coach drivers, Crowds, Riots, Sansculottes, and Servants
"Pitt (left), as a toreador, rides a rearing white horse (of Hanover) with a spear directed horizontally against a buil (John Bull) snorting fire and bleeding from many wounds. He wears a short tunic and sash; his saddle-cloth is a leopard-skin on which is a crest: the white horse of Hanover enclosed in a Garter ribbon inscribed 'Honi soit qui mal y pense', and surmounted by a crown. He looks alarmed and spurs his horse viciously. Two tiers of spectators in an arc of the arena are freely sketched. In the upper row George III looking through a glass is in the centre, on his left is the Queen, on his right Loughborough. The man next the Queen is (?) Grenville. In the lower tier Fox is conspicuous with (?) the Prince of Wales on his left; Sheridan stands behind them. The other spectators are members of the Opposition or ragamuffins. Those who can be identified are (right to left): Stanhope, Derby, Grafton, Lansdowne. A chimney-sweep applauds with brush and shovel. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Three lines of text beginning to the left of title and continuing below it: Description from the royal bull fight of 1795. Then entered a bull of the true British breed ..., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Temporary local subject terms: Opposition -- Treason -- Emblems : the White Horse of Hanover -- Male costume: toreador.
Publisher:
Pubd. Novr. 21st, 1795, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834, Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816, Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811, and Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805