"A kitchen scene [with a satire based on the fable of the "catspaw"]. A monkey with Wood's head squats beside a plump cat with the head in profile of Queen Caroline. She sits gazing at the fire with an eagerly expectant smile. He puts his left hand on her shoulder and takes her right paw which is supported on his knee, looking fixedly at her with greedy expectation. Between the bars of the grate are four chestnuts like large potatoes. These are inscribed respectively: 'Privileges', 'Rights', 'Liturgy', 'St Catherines'. Beside the grate and attached to a chain is a 'Kettle of Fish'. Behind the cat is a big trap with steel teeth inscribed '50 000 per Annum'. Behind it is a dresser, neatly arranged above a cupboard inscribed 'Lately from St Omers' [see British Museum Satires no. 13730]. On the dresser are a teapot and butterdish, each with a bust portrait of Bergami, and two cups, inscribed 'BB'. There are also pans inscribed 'Hash' and 'Stew', a 'Tinder' box and bottle of 'Brim-Stone'. On the chimneypiece, with other utensils, is a box of 'Matches'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Man of the woods and the cat-o'-mountain
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Theodore Lane in the British Museum catalogue., Five lines of verse below title: A cat and monkey tired of play, Basking before the fire lay, Pug in the fire a chesnut spied, Puss, lend me your paw, he slyly cried! And we the booty will divide!!! - Gay., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James's St.
Subject (Name):
Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821, Bergami, Bartolomeo Bergami, Baron, and Wood, Matthew, Sir, 1768-1843
Subject (Topic):
Adultery, Cats, Cooking utensils, Fireplaces, Kitchens, Mantels, Monkeys, and Tableware
Caroline, wearing a chemise and high-strapped shoes, stands admiring herself in front of a full-length mirror. With her right hand she adjusts a feather in her elaborate headdress, which is adorned with the Prince of Wales's feathers on the far side and several pointed feathers on the near side, two of which resemble horns; her left hand rests on her hip. Bergami stands behind her in astonished delight, his hands raised in the air; a garment hangs from his left arm, and several towels or pieces of clothing marked with the initials "B B" are strewn on the floor. A man and a woman peer in on the scene from an adjoining room, the man with a pleased look on his face and the woman with one of surprise. On the wall behind Bergami hangs an oval mirror, the decorative frame of which includes a figure of Cupid standing atop a goat while shooting an arrow. A book with "History" on its spine lies on its side in the left foregraound; a burning candle in its holder sits upon the book
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Theodore Lane in the online catalogue of the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG D17917a)., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Four lines of verse in two columns below title: Dressing for a masquerade, see the chaste Historic Muse, having whiskered Bergi's aid, feathers, gause-chemise and shoes., Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., and Watermark: J. Whatman 1821.
Publisher:
Pubd. by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James's St.
Subject (Name):
Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821, Bergami, Bartolomeo Bergami, Baron, and George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830.
Subject (Topic):
Clothing & dress, Adultery, Mirrors, Headdresses, Feathers, and Cupids
Four ugly old women try to scrub a black man white with brushes, a kettle of boiling water, as steam billows around the room. A fifth woman brings buckets of hot water. A sixth, in the center background, drinks gin. The black man squats in a big tub, with a pained expression on his face
Description:
Title inscribed beneath central image., Attributed to George Cruikshank., Date inferred from the 1827 publication date of George Cruikshank's Illustrations of time, plate 3 of which includes a smaller version of the central image. Cf. No. 15472 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 10., Image also used in Plate 3 of Cruikshank's 'Illustrations of Time'; the attempt to 'wash a black man white' was a traditional example of an impossible task., and On paper watermarked "J. Whatman 1821".
Subject (Topic):
Black people, Ethnic stereotypes, Racism, Wash tubs, and Brooms & brushes
