"The King and Queen (left), seated under a canopy decorated with a crown and the royal arms, listen enraptured to a concert; the performers are arranged in a pyramid on the right. Numbers on the figures refer to notes engraved beneath the design. George III leans back, his hands clasped, eyes turned ecstatically upwards; he wears a laurel wreath and his head is surrounded by a star-shaped halo. The Queen sits upright with an eager expression, beating time; her hair and scraggy neck are covered with jewels (cf. BMSat 6978, &c). On the extreme left, and on the King's right, stands Pitt, very erect, a rattle in his right hand, blowing a whistle attached to a child's coral and bells. Behind the Queen are two ladies: '4', lean and ugly, holds an ear-trumpet to her ear; ['5'], who is stout, holds a parakeet on her finger. This group is: '1 Mr P------t'. '2 K------'. '3 Q------'. '4 Mad. Schw---gh--n' [Schwellenberg]. '5 Miss Jeff-----s' [Elizabeth Jefferyes or Jeffries, a Maid of Honour]. The royal party are on a circular carpet. On the roof of the canopy sits a demon holding up a purse in each hand, emblem of the supposed avarice of the King and Queen, a favourite subject with Gillray, cf. BMSat 7166, and see BMSat 7836, &c. Three demon hounds, inscribed 'G. R. Windsor', chase a realistically drawn fox (Fox), to whose tail is tied (by a ribbon inscribed 'Coalition') a pot with the features of North. The performers are arranged behind a low semicircular barrier. A stout man with a goat's head is asleep on the left, his hands clasped on his breast; from his pocket protrudes a paper inscribed 'Road to Wynnstay' (cf. BMSat 7068, &c). He is '6 Sr W. W. W-----ne' [Williams-Wynn], one of the founders of 'The Concert of Antient Music'. A demon child and an infant with butterfly-wings sit together on the barrier, singing from one book. A braying ass holding a book is '7 Mr Assb-----ge' (Ashbridge, a celebrated kettle-drummer). A bird of prey (? an owl) wearing a large cap stands on the barrier, a piece of music under its claws inscribed 'Anointed Solomon, King over all, E------'. She is '8 Mad. Mara.' Next '7' is seated a large ox supporting a music-book on his hoofs. He is 'J------h B--tes' (Joah Bates, originator (1776) and conductor of 'The Concert of Antient Music'). In the second row of performers (right to left) is a group (behind '7' and '8') of three fishwives: '10, D------ R------d'. the Duke of Richmond, with a basket of fish on his head, arms akimbo, is scolding '11, M-----s La--sd--e' (Marquis Lansdowne), while '12, Col. B--r-' (Barré), his eyes closed, joins in the dispute. An allusion to the altercation in the House of Lords over Richmond's proposed fortifications (see BMSat 7149 etc.). Next, realistically drawn, is '13 Sir J. M--why' (Mawbey), holding under his arm a squeaking pig whose tail he is twisting as if it were a musical instrument. Mawbey, as a distiller, was famous for keeping large quantities of hogs, see BMSats 5746, 7506, &c. Two lawyers sing from the same music; they are '14 Atty Genl' (Arden) and '15 Sollr Genl' (Macdonald). Behind their heads, and towards the apex of the pyramid, stand two judges facing each other, each holding a chimney-sweep's shovel and brush which they strike together in the manner of chimney-sweeps on May Day. They are '16. D--n--as' (Dundas) and '17. Ld L--ghb--gh' (Loughborough). The former's shovel is decorated with a thistle, the latter's with a man hanging from a gibbet, with the date '1745' and 'Kenn Com' in allusion to the Jacobites executed on Kennington Common, one of whom was Sir John Wedderburn. The apex of the pyramid is '18. Ch--n--ll--r', Thurlow, standing with a fierce expression; he holds up a pair of birch-rods above the bare posteriors of two terrified boys who serve as kettle-drums. Two squalling and fighting cats hang from the ceiling by ribbons attached to their tails. Beneath the design is engraved: '------Monarchs, who with Rapture wild, Hear their own Praise with Mouths of gaping Wonder, And control each Crotchet of the Birth-day Thunder. Peter Pindar.' The satire illustrates this and other passages from 'Ode upon Ode', which attack Pitt for obsequiousness to the King, and the King and Queen for their parsimony in attending the Concerts of Antient Music as subscribers instead of having concerts at their palace: '- Monarchs, who with oeconomic Fury Force all the tuneful World to Tot'n'am Lane.' Mawbey is mentioned: 'Strains! that Sir Joseph Mawbey deem'd divine, Sweet as the Quavers of his fattest Swine.' Wynn also: 'The sleek Welsh Deity who Music knows- The Alexander of the Tot'n'am Troops.' Richmond is mentioned: 'Mad as his Military Grace For fortifying ev'ry Place . . .' The cats: 'How like the Notes of Cats, a vocal Pair.'"--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from item., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Later state, with numbers and explanatory notes, hairs on the queen's face and further stippling on the king's face., Publication date inferred from watermark., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Sir John Wedderburn, 1704-1746? -- Chimney sweep's implements -- Singing lawyers -- Squeking pigs -- Fighting cats -- Dispute over Richmond's fortifications -- Child demons -- Ribbon of coalition -- Circular carpets -- Royal canopies -- Demon hounds -- Royal parsimony -- Birds: paraket -- Owls -- Kensington Common -- Literature: allusion to Peter Pindar's Ode upon ode -- Concerts: Antient music, 1787 -- Music: Serenata 'Solomon' by William Boyce -- Emblems -- Allusion to Jacobites -- Children: bous a kettle drums -- Richmond as a fishwoman -- Music books -- Performers in pyramid shape -- Star-shaped haloes -- Birch rods -- Toys: coral and bells -- Cherubs., Watermark: R A 1801 on the left side of sheet; fleur-de-lis on the right side., Matted to 56 x 71 cm., and Verso of former mount (49 x 60 cm), now laid in, with image in reverse of La belle assemblee.
Publisher:
Pub'd May 10th, 1787 by S.W. Fores, Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Williams-Wynn, Watkin, Sir, 1749-1789, Mara, Gertrud Elisabeth, 1749-1833, Richmond, Charles Lennox, 3d Duke of, 1735-1806, Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805, Mawbey, Joseph, Sir, 1730-1798, Alvanley, Richard Pepper Arden, Baron, 1745-1804, Macdonald, Archibald, Sir, 1747-1826, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Schwellenberg, Elizabeth Juliana, ca 1728-1797, Jefferyes, Elizabeth, active 1787-1791, Ashbridge, John, -1799, Bates, Joah, 1741-1799, and Barré, Isaac, 1726-1802
"The Duchess of Devonshire seated in a chair offers her bared breast to a fox dressed as an infant, which stands on its hind legs before her, placing a paw across her lap. Her own infant, seated on the ground (right) neglected, stretches out her arms to her mother with a protesting scream. In the foreground (left) a cat licks the face of a dog which sits on its hind legs, while a kitten crawls neglected beside it. Behind the animals is an empty cradle. On the wall (left) is Reynolds's portrait of the Duke of Devonshire standing beside his horse, as in British Museum Satires No. 6529. Another portrait (right) is of a stout man wearing a hat walking to the right, one hand in his pocket, the other resting on a stick (? Fox). These are freely sketched."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Watermark., and Formerly mounted on leaf 64 of volume 1 of 14 volumes.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 22, 1784, by Jno. Hanyer, Strand
Subject (Name):
Cavendish, Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire, 1757-1806, Devonshire, William Cavendish, Duke of, 1748-1811, and Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806
Subject (Topic):
Foxes, Breast feeding, Infants, Cats, Dogs, and Cradles
"A balloon about to rise from the ground encircled by three tiers of galleries or narrow platforms, protected by railings. Behind the railings sit the passengers. In the highest tier are three ladies notorious at that time for their amours ...: Grace Elliott or Eliot, née Dalrymple, known as 'Dally the tall', she holds a fan, turning her head in profile to the left, towards Perdita (Mary Robinson), who clasps her hands ecstatically; Lady Worsley sits on the right. In the centre gallery sit ex-ministers: North (left) and Fox (right) in the centre, North's arm on Fox's shoulder; Fox turns his head to North with an expression of satisfaction. Each rests his right hand on the railing in front of him, and these hands hold an inconspicuous thread which is attached to the nose of the Duke of Portland (left), who turns in profile to the right. On the right, a little apart, sits Burke dressed as a Jesuit (see British Museum Satires No. 6205) looking in profile to the right towards the Pope, who stands on the gallery, emerging from behind the curve of the balloon. He wears furred robes and his triple crown; as a pendant to him on the extreme left is the Devil looking towards the ministers with a pleased expression; over his arm he holds a net. In the lowest gallery sit celebrated quacks and other London characters. These are (left to right) "Vestina', the goddess of Health who advertised the virtues of the celestial bed (incorrectly said to have been Lady Hamilton), sits next her employer, Dr. Graham; they look at each other; she holds a sceptre wreathed with a garland. Jeffery Dunstan, Mayor of Garrat, stands, knock-kneed, with his sack over his shoulder in his accustomed attitude when calling 'old wigs'. Sam House sits resting a foaming tankard of porter on the railing in front of him, the tankard inscribed "House Ward[our] Stre[eet]". Katerfelto, turned in profile to the right, gazes up at the moon through his telescope; in his left hand is a paper, "Wonders, Wonders Most Wonderfull Wonders", the usual heading of his advertisements, cf. British Museum Satires No. 6162. His black cat sits on the railing facing him, saying, "are there Mice in the Moon Master". In the upper right corner of the design is the moon, a crescent-shaped profile inset in a circle, looking down at the balloon. The balloon is encircled longitudinally by eight ropes which meet in a knot beneath it and are there attached to four stouter ropes attached to the four corners of a platform which rests on the ground, from which the balloon appears about to ascend. On this platform is a tub inscribed "Vanity", bubbling over with soapsuds inscribed "Froth". Beside the platform (right) stands a Frenchman capering on one leg and flourishing a knife. He says, "Oh Begar dis be von fine Cargo." ... In the background are the roofs and spires of London, St. Paul's being prominent on the left, the Monument on the right. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., "Hanibal Scratch" might be a pseudonym of John Nixon; see Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 5, page 842., Text beneath title: Setts out from Swan with two Necks Lad Lane every Monday morg., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Twenty lines of verse in four columns below image, etched above and on either side of title: Who choose a journey to the Moon, may take it in our Stage Balloon ...
Publisher:
Pubd. Decr. 23, 1783, by Wm. Wells, No. 132 Fleet Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Elliott, Grace Dalrymple, -1823, Robinson, Mary, 1758-1800, Worsley, Seymour Dorothy, Lady, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, Portland, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of, 1738-1809, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Pius VI, Pope, 1717-1799, Graham, James, 1745-1794, Dunstan, Jeffery, 1759?-1797, House, Samuel, -1785, Katterfelto, Gustavus, -1799, and St. Paul's Cathedral (London, England),
"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
"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., 1 print : etching on wove paper, hand-colored ; plate mark 24.8 x 35.1 cm, on sheet 27.6 x 40.2 cm., and Mounted on leaf 63 of volume 3 of 12.
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
