"Lord Lonsdale as Satan is seated in triumph, his right foot resting on a sack of 'Coals from the Infernal Pitt.' (Pitt gave Lowther his peerage, see BMSat 6579.) Peter Pindar (Wolcot) (left) kneels on one knee at his feet, with clasped hands, beseeching mercy. A lawyer (right) whose legs are twisted serpents crouches at his left hand writing 'Peter Pindar' in a book inscribed 'Black List'; he is the coachman of BMSat 8155. Lonsdale is a magnificently arrogant figure with horns, wings, and muscular legs which are bare from the knee, his toes being talons; he resembles the Satan of BMSat 6027. He wears an earl's coronet inscribed 'Evil be thou my Good', and a military coat with epaulettes. From his mouth issues two streams of flame ... In his left hand, which rests on his knee, is a flaming torch inscribed 'Epistle to Lord Lonsd[ale] by Peter Pindar'. Behind his head is a large halo from which radiate tongues of flame that reach to the margins of the design, each with an inscription. ... The last inscription points at the lawyer as the first does at Pindar. Pindar's clothes are ragged, toes protrude through a tattered shoe. ... From his pocket project two books: 'Odes upon Cowardice' and 'Odes of Importance alias Conciliatory Odes'. The latter, published in 1792, contained an 'Ode to Lord Lonsdale', in which Lonsdale is urged to imitate the King's forbearance towards 'the poet's harmless wit'; it is by no means abject, and threatens him with an independent jury and Erskine's irony. ... Lonsdale's attorney holds 'Briefs' and 'Writs' under his left arm, on which a brief-bag is hung. The coals issuing from Lonsdale's sack are inscribed: 'Covetousness', 'Dissimulation', 'Rapine', 'Treachery', 'Malice', 'Cruelty', 'Envy', 'Pride', 'Ingratitude', 'Deceit', 'Swindling', 'Rapine', 'Meanness'. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Peter Pindar crouching to the devil
Description:
Dedication etched below title: To the worthy inhabitants of Cumberland, this impartial representation of the virtues of his Infernal Majesty, is respectfully dedicated., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Text following title: Sketch'd from the peep-hole at Scalegill., and Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher., Lonsdale, James Lowther,--Earl of,--1736-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., and Pindar, Peter,--1738-1819--Caricatures and cartoons.