The Bedford level [graphic]

"The gate of Bedford House (Bedford Square) with the double doors sufficiently open to show a man descending the steps of the house carrying a sack of plunder. On one side of the gate sits the Duke of Bedford, dressed as a jockey and seated on a saddle supported by trestles; he looks down, his face is concealed by his cap, his arms are folded. At his feet is a paper: 'Motion for Peace with France'. On the opposite side sits a sansculotte astride a pile of plunder topped by a bundle of 'Title De[eds] of Estates in -'. His feet rest on money-bags and on a ducal coronet. He wears a bonnet-rouge and grasps a bag inscribed '£1000', looking towards the Duke. A horizontal beam or 'Bedford Level' touches both their heads, from its centre rises an upright against which hangs a plumb-line, exactly vertical. On each gate-post is a double-headed Sphinx (cf. British Museum Satires 8786), one head (left) looks down mournfully at Bedford, another (right), with snaky locks, grins down at his companion."--British Museum online catalogue