John Bull lies on his back in bed, his mouth gaping; Pitt, a goblin creature, sits on his chest in profile to the right, holding above his upturned head a loaf inscribed '13 Pence'. Pitt has a huge head, much caricatured, with starting eyeballs; his hair stands up and the bag of his queue, inscribed 'Taxes', flies out behind him. Through a casement window (left) looks a fantastic French republican, with bulging eyeballs and fang-like teeth, glaring at John Bull; from his neck hangs the model of a guillotine. Behind his head is a waning moon. Beside him are the words: 'Republic War and Famine for Ever.' Beneath the bed is a chamber-pot inscribed 'John Bull'; beside it is a chair on which stands a candle
Alternative Title:
Nightmare
Description:
Title etched below image., A satire, on the burderns of war and dearth in 1795, alluding to Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare"., Tentatively attributed to West in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Publisher's advertisement following imprint: Folios of caracatures [sic] lent out for the evening., and Watermark: Strasburg lily with initials G R below.
Publisher:
Pub. Augst. 13, 1795, by S.W. Fores, No. 50 Piccadilly, the corner of Sackville St.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and France
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), Hair powder, Taxation, History, Foreign public opinion, British, Chamber pots, and Demons
