"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, description of a variant state
Description:
Title etched below image., Signed with the monogram of James Sayers., Fourth of a set of seven prints "Outlines of the Opposition in 1795 ..."; see British Museum catalogue., For a variant state with plate number "4" etched in upper left corner, see no. 8639 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 7., and Temporary local subject terms: Opposition -- Reference to motion for peace with France, 26 January 1795 -- Buildings: Gate to the Bedford House, London -- Bedford Level: Reference to Isle of Ely -- Symbols: Freemasons' level -- Level as symbol of equality -- Reference to the Duke of Bedford's estates -- Sansculottes -- Bonnet rouge -- Emblems: Tricolor cockade -- Male dress: Jockey's dress.
