"A bear (right), wearing Cossack trousers and an imperial crown surmounted by a double-headed eagle, runs off to the right. He carries a piece of mountainous country inscribed Greece on which kneels a tiny Greek in profile to the left, exclaiming Save me from my Friends. The bear (the Tsar) tramples on the neck of a turkey, with the bearded, turbaned, and terrified head of the Sultan, which lies on its back. The bear looks fiercely over his shoulder towards an angry English sailor who sits in an open boat with a cannon mounted in the bows. The sailor wears a top-hat with a ribbon inscribed Navar[ino, see BM Satires No. 15507, &c]; he has dropped an oar to lean back, extending his clenched fist towards the bear, and shouting: Halloo--master-drop that, or d--me I'll run along side of you, in no time. Cannon-balls are piled in the stern; above them flies a Union flag topped by oak leaves. On the farther side of the water (left) stands Charles X, a capering French fop in the dress of the ancien régime, with a cane under his arm. He says: By gar he is take away all de Greece. The scene is watched from a distance by the Emperor of Austria, who draws his sword, saying, I should like a bit of that."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Imperial bears grease or a peep into futurity
Description:
Title from caption below image; the letters "a" and "s" in the word "grease" are crossed out and the letters "e" and "c" etched above to form the word "Greece.", Publication date from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Numbered in ms. at top of sheet: 223.
Publisher:
Pub. by T. McLean 26 Haymarket
Subject (Name):
Charles X, King of France, 1757-1836
Subject (Topic):
Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829, Bears, Crowns, Sailors, British, National emblems, Russian, and Turkeys
