The mock phoenix!!!, or, A vain attempt to rise again [graphic].Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, printmaker[10 December 1813]eng"Napoleon emerges from the flames of a huge fire burning on the summit of a rock, on the face of which is an opening, like the door of an oven, whence issue flames and serpents. These are being stirred up by the long spear of a Cossack (right), who gazes up at Napoleon, while a sturdy Dutchman (left) plies a huge pair of bellows. The head of Napoleon is based on Gillray's 'Apotheosis of the Corsican-Phoenix', British Museum Satires No. 11007, but as a 'Mock Phoenix', he has not the wings and body of a bird, but the body of a man, though one claw extends from the fire, dropping an orb, as in that print. His flaming crown rises from his head, as in British Museum Satires No. 11007, but he clutches his breast with the right hand, and raises the left arm in a gesture of agonized despair; his sceptre falls into the fire. The flames and smoke have more lateral spread than in British Museum Satires No. 11007, and are filled with demons, ranging from quasi-human devils and imps to serpents. The Dutchman, in bulky breeches, wears a large orange cockade in his hat; he looks up, the smoke from his pipe merging with that of the pyre. The Cossack is bearded, with the high furred cap of other prints. The scene is a plateau surrounded by rocky peaks."--British Museum online catalogueTitle etched below image.Printmaker from British Museum catalogue.Sheet trimmed within plate mark.Mounted on leaf 50 of volume 12 of 14 volumes.