"George IV, dressed as Henry VIII and with cavalry boots decorated with rosettes, sits on the throne (right), shrinking angrily from oxen wearing civic gowns who bow, presenting petitions. All the horns of the oxen are tipped with tiny caps resembling caps of Liberty; a slightly larger pair protects the prongs of a fork held up on the extreme left above the massed heads of the beasts. On this a placard is speared: 'Petitions from every Part of the World--(Hole's and Corner's excepted) to Dismiss the Ministers-- signed by upwards of 999,999--Millions of the Brute Creation.' The petitions of the four beasts in the front row are headed: 'Petition of Lord Mayor & Citizens of London to Dismiss Ministers'; 'Petitions from every part of England & Wales to Dismiss Ministers &c &c &c'; '. . . ions from every Part of Scotland to Dismiss Ministers &c &c &c'; 'Petitions from every part of Ireland . . . [ut supra]'. Hooves rise from cattle behind holding more petitions: 'from Europe'; 'From Asia'; 'from Africa'; 'from America'; 'from every Honest Man'. The canopied throne is raised on a dais of three steps, the footstool is a cushion supported on a (carved) elephant; but the King's feet are drawn back. His right hand is on his hip; he holds an oddly shaped sceptre in the left hand. The back of the throne is framed by carved mannikins with shackled hands and feet; a large crown rests on the heads of the two uppermost. The back of the canopy has a pattern of writhing serpents. Ministers, much caricatured, stand on the right and left of the dais. In the foreground (right) and on the King's left, Wellington, with the apron and steel of a butcher (as in British Museum Satires No. 13288), with gauntlet gloves and with a star on his tunic, holds a blood-stained battle-axe. Sidmouth, as Court-fool, sits in profile to the left on an apothecary's mortar, wearing a double-peaked fool's cap and a star, and holding a bladder which is his clyster-pipe. Behind is Eldon, scowling savagely and holding the mace and the Purse of the Great Seal. A bishop holding a crosier stands on either side of the throne, behind the Ministers. A staff supports an emblematical cask which a naked Bacchus bestrides. On the King's right is Liverpool, holding a tall staff to which a green bag is tied (see British Museum Satires No. 13735). Next him is Castlereagh, blandly sinister, holding a scourge, and with a bunch of keys hanging from his belt; he stares at the petitioners. A tiny Vansittart is beside him, in his Chancellor of the Exchequer's gown, with an 'X' on his breast above a chequered pattern, hung diamond-wise. Immensely fat and absurd beefeaters stand along the back of the room under quasi-Gothic windows of stained glass. All hold tridents and turn their eyes towards the petitioners, grinning grotesquely. Each window is centred by an escutcheon on which a decanter is the chief object. The upper part of each is filled by a design of three large peacock's feathers (see British Museum Satires No. 13299). The Gothic roof, caricaturing that at Carlton House (cf. British Museum Satires No. 11727), is filled with tracery in the form of antlers."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched above image., Text below image: Historical fact, King Henry VIII, being petitioned to dismiss his ministers & council, by the citizens of London & many boroughs, to releive [sic] his oppressed subjects, made the citizens this sagacious reply: "We, with all our cabinet, think it strange that ye, who be but brutes, & inexpert folk, shd. tell us who be & who be not fit for our council." Vide La Belle Assemblée for October 1820, p. 151., and Mounted on page 33 of: George Humphrey shop album.
Publisher:
Pubd. by G. Humphrey, Feby. 14, 1821, 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
England.
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838, Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of, 1770-1828, Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822, Vansittart, Nicholas, 1766-1851, Henry VIII, King of England, 1491-1547., and Dionysus (Greek deity)
Subject (Topic):
Politicians, Boots, Thrones, Oxen, Bowing, Petitions, Liberty cap, Pitchforks, Podiums, Crowns, Scepters, Butchers, Fools & jesters, Mortars & pestles, Medical equipment & supplies, Ceremonial maces, Bishops, Bags, Whips, Honor guards, and Windows
"The King turns his back on Prince Leopold, who departs, making an indignant speech. He bends graciously to a deputation from the Corporation of Dublin; the Lord Mayor [King, see British Museum Satires No. 14525] presents the 'Snug Ultra Loyal Address [see British Museum Satires No. 14105] of the City of Dub--.' See British Museum Satires No. 14114. 'The Times,' 29 Jan.: "At the private levée on Friday [26 Jan.] it was confidently said that an illustrious Prince was 'rumped' by an exalted personage." The Deputation from Dublin were received with affability; the Address was presented to the King on the throne on the 27th."--British Museum catalogue
Alternative Title:
Courtly specimen of good manners
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Watermark: J. Whatman 1820., Mounted to 58 x 39 cm., Mounted (with one other print) on leaf 56 in volume 2 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair.", and Figures of "Sidmouth," "Londonderry," and "Prince Leopold" identified in pencil at bottom of sheet; date "Feb. 1821 [altered to '1827' in pencil]" written in ink beneath lower right corner of image. Typed extract of six lines from the British Museum catalogue description is pasted beneath print.
Publisher:
Published February 1821 by J. Fairburn, Broadway, Ludgate Hill
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain., Ireland, and Dublin.
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Léopold I, King of the Belgians, 1790-1865, King, Abraham Bradley,, Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, and Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822
A design in two panels, with George IV depicted on the left and Queen Caroline on the right. The King sits in a chair and holds up a large playing card (a King of Clubs), while Castlereagh holds a disk-shaped hat labeled "Cake" and topped with the head of a bishop over his head. Liverpool and Sidmouth are seen playing cards in the background, and Eldon is behind the King at a table holding a glass; full bottles of alcohol are on the table and empty ones on the floor. In contrast, the regally-dressed Queen sits in a more ornate chair with a crown on the back, holding a scepter in her left hand and holding up a large playing card (the Queen of Hearts) with her right hand; Alderman Wood stands behind her exclaiming "The Queen of Hearts by Heaven!!!" Three women watch her with admiration from a table in the background, upon which a disk-shaped hat labeled "Popularity" and topped with hearts and a small crown sits; another man on the far right of the design says "Bravo!! Bravo!!"
Alternative Title:
Twelfth night, 1821
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet partially trimmed to plate mark on bottom edge., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum., Mounted to 58 x 39 cm., Mounted on leaf 57 in volume 2 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair.", and Figures of "Liverpool," "Sidmouth," "Castlereagh," "Geo. IV," "Eldon," "Q. Caroline," and "Ald. Wood" identified in ink below image; date "14 Feb. 1821" written in lower right.
Publisher:
Published February 1821 by J. Fairburn, Broadway, Ludgate Hill
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821, George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of, 1770-1828, Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822, Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838, and Wood, Matthew, Sir, 1768-1843
Subject (Topic):
Politicians, Playing cards, Bottles, Alcoholic beverages, Scepters, and Crowns
