1.
- Creator:
- Bickham, George, 1706?-1771, printmaker
- Published / Created:
- [1741]
- Call Number:
- 741.04.13.01.2+ Impression 1
- Image Count:
- 1
- Resource Type:
- still image
- Abstract:
- "Satire on Robert Walpole and attempts to remove him from office. Walpole, illuminated by rays, stands in a cart, at the tail of which walks Dr Conyers Middleton, drawn from right to left by six broken down horses and asses on the leader of which rides the postillion Lord Hervey, identified by his fan ("Lord Fanny") and the Seal around his neck; overhead flies a devil with a banner lettered, "The Death of M[iddleto]n in the Life of Cicero. Walpole raises his arms in surprise at a Trojan horse appearing to follow him. Argyll wearing a tartan sash and a purse of £1000 at his waist is seated onthe horse's back saying "77 Commissions baits for votes, in Parliament; a monkey swings from a tree behind him holding a ribbon lettered, "C. La. John". A trapdoor, against which rests a ladder, is open in the belly of the horse revealing the heads of two men within, a ribbon from the mouth of one is lettered, "for giveing a girl of 14", the phrase continuing around the opening, "to 4 score/in ye fleet". A head with an expression of alarm appears beneath the horse, obscured by shadow. Beside the horse stands an officer brandishing a stick and saying, "he wants, caning"; to his right, stands a group of three men and a women, one man, wearing clerical or legal bands holds up a bell, a clergyman grasps him by the hand saying, "I may sell gin again". At lower right stands the Duke of Grafton, Lord Chamberlain, holding his wand of office and saying, "My wages runs deep" (see BM Satires 2491); a small black page holds his train. In the centre, a woman on all fours has pulled up her skirts to allow elegant man with a monkey's head to kiss her backside through a short ladder; she winks and holds up the first two fingers of her right hand; the monkey-man is identified as the surgeon, Esquire Carey of Pall Mall, by a ribobon lettered, "your Taa; Pall-mal", a clyster pipe, and a hat with a label inside reading, "Carey in ye Minor". Behind Carey, appears a small bald-headed man, his wig falling off, who holds up his hands saying, "Direectors of ye Assical Print & Procession, by ye Authors of Manners" (a reference to BM Satires 2494 and to Paul Whitehead's anti-Walpole satire "Manners" published in February 1739. On the left, is a group of those in opposition to Walpole, identified by the legend beneath in which they disparage Walpole, each voices an insult including a reference to his Secret Service, to the Black Joke (a suggestive ballad) and to a Lapland witch (reputed to have the power to conjure up winds and tempests): 1. Lord Chesterfield, defecating on to the satirical print entitled "Funeral of Faction" (BM Satires 2487); 2. Lord Cobham; 3. John Myddelton; 4. William Pulteney; 5. the Duchess of Marlborough; 6. Samuel Sandys holding his nose has he looks down at Chesterfield. In the background stands the recently established Foundling Hospital with a sign above its door reading, "This House is full" and a roundel with a woman laying down a child; a sailor sits on an inn sign (with two ships) lettered "he'll inslave us" and pointing towards Walpole; he holds a tankard in his other hand."--British Museum online catalogue
- Alternative Title:
- Motley team of state
- Description:
- Title from item., Attributed to George Bickham the younger in an unverified card catalog record., Twenty four lines of text in six columns below image: 1. C-t-d. He's a musician, to his prince he plays ..., State with imprint partially burnished from plate. Cf. No. 2495 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 3., Temporary local subject terms: Personifications: Discord -- The White Horse of Hanover as a Trojan Horse -- Military uniforms: officer's uniform -- Naval uniforms: sailor's uniform -- Buildings: The Foundling Hospital -- Medical implements: clyster pipe., and Watermark: Strasburg lily with initials L V G below.
- Publisher:
- 1741 by authority, printed for G. Bickham
- Subject (Name):
- Argyle, John Campbell, Duke of, 1680-1743, Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of, 1694-1773, Cobham, Richard Temple, Viscount, 1669?-1749, Grafton, Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of, 1683-1757, Carteret, John, Earl Granville, 1690-1763, Hervey, John Hervey, Baron, 1696-1743, Middleton, Conyers, 1683-1750, Bath, William Pulteney, Earl of, 1684-1764, Ombersley, Samuel Sandys, Baron of, 1695-1770, Marlborough, Charles Spencer, Duke of, 1706-1758, and Walpole, Robert, Earl of Orford, 1676-1745
- Found in:
- Lewis Walpole Library > What's all this! The motley team of state [graphic].