"The base of the design is a dunghill from which rises the head of Napoleon as a young republican officer, not caricatured. His head is covered by a large cup-shaped fungus, decorated with a tricolour cockade and resembling a Cap of Liberty; from its apex ascends a curving stalk, terminating in the large yellow rosette of a sunflower, centred by the head of Napoleon as Emperor, larger than that of the base, and representing an older man; like the lower one it is directed slightly to the right. Below it, leaves project from the stalk, balancing the design. On Napoleon's head is an arrangement of stamens in the form of an imperial crown. These unite to form the long scraggy neck of the third Napoleon, a head in profile to the right, emaciated and desperate. On this head is a larger fungus than that below, projecting like an enormous hat. From it ascend the stems of a bunch of violets, copied from No. 12511, but with the addition of more flowers, and on a larger scale. It contains the profiles of Napoleon, Marie Louise, and the King of Rome, arranged exactly as in British Museum Satires No. 12511. Smaller fungi sprout from the dunghill, some flat and some conical, like caps of Liberty; on the latter tricolour cockades are indicated. Four little figures are on a slope (left) leading towards the dunghill, prepared to clear it away. In front are Blücher and Wellington, running forward, and talking to each other; one holds a spade, the other a broad hoe. Behind them is the Tsar, shouldering a pickaxe. Behind again stands Louis XVIII, with splayed gouty legs, supported on a crutch. He waves his hat to cheer them on."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Pedigree of Corporal Violet
Description:
Title etched below image., Text below title: First as a Consular Toadstool, rising from a Corsican Dunghill, then changing to an Imperial Sun Flower, from that to an Elba Fungus and lastly to a bunch of Violets, which are disposed as to represent a whole length of profile of Buonaparte, with a bust of Maria Louisa, and her son the Prince of Parma., and Companion print to: A view of the Grand Triumphal Pillar.
Publisher:
Pubd. by H. Humphrey June 9th, 1815 - No. 27 St. James's St.
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Name):
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821, Marie Louise, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1791-1847, Bonaparte, François-Charles-Joseph, Herzog von Reichstadt, 1811-1832, Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852, Blücher, Gebhard Leberecht von, 1742-1819, Louis XVIII, King of France, 1755-1824, Bonaparte, François-Charles-Joseph, Herzog von Reichstadt, 1811-1832., Marie Louise, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1791-1847., and Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821.
Subject (Topic):
Political satire, French, Politics and government, Mushrooms, and Flowers
Attributed to Horace Walpole in the British Museum catalogue. Now known not to have been created by Walpole or printed at Strawberry Hill. See Hazen, A.T. Bibliography of Horace Walpole, page 173 and his Bibliography of the Strawberry Hill Press, pages 145-148., A set of cards with moral maxims printed on fronts and backs in black and red ink: e.g., "Poverty is the fruit of idleness, Small griefs are loud, great ones still ...", All engraved with decorative border., and Imperfect set: one card lacking and printed leaf of Explanation. For further information, consult library staff.
