"Pitt as Don Quixote (and Petruchio) bestrides a sorry rosinante, the white horse of Hanover, scarred and decrepit and apparently at the point of death. Behind him sits the King of Prussia. Holland, as Sancho Panza, on the animal's hind-quarters, clasps Prussia round the waist. The Sultan, on the extreme left, crouches behind the horse, kissing its tail. Pitt, who holds a whip, points a thin mail-clad hand arrogantly at Catherine of Russia (right), a stout woman who has sunk in terror to her knees, but is supported by the Emperor Leopold and by France, a grotesquely lean Frenchman of the old régime, wearing a cocked hat ornamented with fleur-de-lis. Pitt wears Mambrino's helmet (the barber's basin) surmounted by a crown and a feather. He says: ""Katharine, that cap of yours becomes you not; "Off with that bauble, 'tis my royal will." The 'cap' is a crescent in her hair, symbolizing her conquests from Turkey and, more especially, Oczakoff, the place in dispute. Pitt's horse (George III), says, weeping, "Heigho! to have myself thus rid to death, by a Boy & his playmates, merely to frighten an Old Woman - I wish I was back in Hanover to get myself a belly full". A holster on the animal's neck is inscribed 'G.R', but the 'G' has been struck out and replaced by 'P' (to indicate that Pitt has usurped the prerogative of the Crown, cf. BMSat 7479, &c). The King of Prussia, with his chin on Pitt's shoulder, glares fiercely; he holds a drawn sabre and says, "Blood & Dunder, I would give her one good Prussian stroking". Sancho Panza, a fat Dutchman, says, "I'm in a good humour to give her a dram of right Holland's". The crouching Turk cries obsequiously, "Amman! Amman! Anglois, Alia, Alia". Catherine is terrified, she turns away from Pitt exclaiming: ""I see my Lances are but straws; "My strength is weak, my weakness past compare; "And am asham'd, that Women are so simple "To offer War when they should kneel for Peace." France says, "O, by Gar! if Mirabeau was but 'live! Sacre Dieu." The Emperor, who is crowned, and wears a cloak on which is the Habsburg eagle, says, "Das is de devil, to give up all again". Beside Catherine is a sword tying across a plan of a fortress, Oczakow."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
What you will and Modern Quixote
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Don Quixote -- Horse of Hanover -- George III as the Horse of Hanover -- Weapons: sabre -- Horse whip -- Allusion to Oczakow -- Allusion to Triple Alliance (England, Prussia and Holland)., and Watermark: J Whatman.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 20th, 1791, by S.W. Fores, Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796, Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1747-1792, Frederick William II, King of Prussia, 1744-1797, Selim III, Sultan of the Turks, 1761-1808, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
"Pitt, very thin and elongated, poises on one toe on a tight-rope; he holds a long balancing-pole in both hands, on one end (left) sits the Sultan, on the other (right) Catherine II. The Turk, whose end of the pole is slightly the lower, clutches it desperately, saying, "My dear Billy, do help me to make another push, & I'll give you - half of my Seraglio". The fat Empress sits with her hands on her hips; she wears a crown, in her right hand is a sceptre, in her left a paper inscribed 'New Russian Conquests'. She says "Both Billy - the Flat, & yourself may do your worst you circumcised dog! get me down if you can! - I'll match you all, & swallow Thousands more!" Pitt stands with his head raised arrogantly in profile to the right; he says, "The old Hag cannot move me, & Seraglios cannot bribe me: - I have nothing to do with these matters - my Pole will always remain level - ". On the ground beneath the rope stands a dwarfish Sheridan (right) in profile to the left, grotesquely caricatured as a clown; he wears trousers and long sleeves which cover his hands and hang down. He says: "O! the Devil! the Devil! The Cow leaps over the Moon! And if I could once get up on the Rope, Lord! I'd fill my Pockets soon: - I mean, I would soon bring her down: fol der lol, fol der ol"."--British Museum online catalogue, description of an earlier state
Alternative Title:
Posterity of the immortal Chatham turned posture master
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from description of earlier state in the British Museum catalogue., Reissue, with added plate numbering. Cf. No. 7846 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., Date of printing based on that of Bohn's Suppressed plates., Plate probably from: Bohn, ii, 8, Suppressed plates., Text following title: Vide Sherridans speech., Sheet trimmed to plate mark, and the number "8" has likely been erased from sheet., and Temporary local subject terms: Circus performances: walking on rope -- Allusion to Russian conquests -- Clowns -- Allusion to Sheridan's speech in the House of Commons, 15 April, 1791 -- Allusion to William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778.
Publisher:
Publishd. April 21st, 1791, by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond St.
Subject (Name):
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796, Selim III, Sultan of the Turks, 1761-1808, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
