All the world's a stage and one man in his time plays many parts, &c. &c. [graphic]

"George IV sits in an arm-chair, his gouty right leg in a bulky swathing rests on a cushion; the left leg is tightly bound between calf and ankle with a narrow bandage. He wears a loose fur-collared coat or gown over breeches and waistcoat. He leans back reflectively, an open book, Diversions of Purley [by Home Tooke, cf. British Museum Satires No. 9020], in his right hand. Phases of his past life are illustrated in a series of W.L. portraits on the wall behind him. [1] As a handsome young man he stands holding a long-bow, as if at an archery contest. [2] He stands, slightly obese, in his Light Horse uniform, see British Museum Satires No. 8800 (1796). [3] He stands in back view as in BM Satires 12803, facing a wall on which is a portrait of the Hottentot Venus [Saartjie Baartman], see British Museum Satires No. 11577, &c. [4] He stands in hussar uniform, with high curled wig and whiskers. [5] He stands directed to the right in Field Marshal's uniform (as 'especially in 1814). [6] He stands on the deck of a ship in yachting costume wearing loose jacket and trousers, his hands in his coat-pocket. The profile and paunch of Sir William Curtis are behind and on the extreme left. [7] The picture is partly concealed by a curtain, but the King sits near a chamber-pot. [8] He stands in coronation robes holding orb and sceptre (see British Museum Satires No. 14199). [9] He is in Highland costume (see British Museum Satires No. 14386). At the King's left hand is a small cheval-glass topped by a crown. His appearance has changed, he has no whiskers, and has a wig of lightly curled natural hair, parted in the middle, so that in place of the pear- or pineapple-shaped head resulting from a crest of curls and whiskers, as from c. 1811 [In caricature. An engraved H.L. portrait by Schiavonetti after T. Phillips, pub. Cadell & Davis, 11 Oct. 1809, has whiskers and crest of curls], his face seems rounder, and, in many prints, younger. His dress is less formal, and his appearance (confirmed by portraits from 1820) suggests a determination to depart completely from the appearance and costume of caricature."--British Museum online catalogue