"George IV sits on Lady Conyngham's lap, kissing her amorously; he wears a dressing-gown with ungartered stockings. Lady Elizabeth (right) bends over him, supporting his elbow, while her sister, Lady Maria Harriet, stands behind the sofa, close to her mother. All three women are in evening dress. In the foreground (right) Lord Francis, tall and fashionable, stands directed to the right, looking furtively over his right shoulder. He holds a large purse, and is slipping coins from it into his trouser-pocket; he says: Well as this Purse must go to Knight-on [the K scored through] I'll make the most of it. At his feet is an open book: Lord C . . . Advice to his Son * Get money . . . it Honest if you can--. The words are partly hidden by a smaller book: Cunningham Poems. Behind, on the extreme left, and directed to the left, Lord Conyngham, with small horns and large ass's ears, sits on a chamber-pot inscribed Chamberl . . . [ain], holding a long wand of office. He scowls over his shoulder at his family, saying, It's a Blessing to be Happy and Contented. Behind him is a (pictorial) fire-screen mounted on a pole which terminates in a crown: Conyngham crawls on hands and knees, blindfolded and bound; his wife sits on his back, with the King on her lap, embracing her. Behind the closely grouped heads of the King and the three ladies are hanging bookshelves, two of the books being open: A Lecture upon Horns facing a stag's antlers, and Jerry Sneak [the hen-pecked husband in Foote's Mayor of Garratt]. On the floor in the foreground are an open book: A Mothers advice to her Daughters [cf. British Museum Satires 14401] and a paper: A List of Choice Plays She stoops to Conquer. All in the Wrong. Bold stroke for a Wife. Every Man in his Humour--Careless Husband. Way to keep Him, Tender Husband, School for Wives [scored through], Inconstant &c &c &c."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Imprint truncated; publisher's name possibly erased from plate., Date of publication from the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed to plate mark leaving thread margins., Mounted to 58 x 39 cm., Mounted (with one other print) on leaf 25 in volume 2 of the W.E. Gladstone collection of caricatures and broadsides surrounding the "Queen Caroline Affair.", and Figures of "Ld. Conyngham," "Lady Conyngham," and "Geo. IV" identified in ink below image; date "Nov. 1820" written beneath lower right corner of image.
Publisher:
Pubd. by [...]
Subject (Geographic):
England
Subject (Name):
George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Conyngham, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness, -1861, Huntly, Elizabeth, Marchioness of, 1799-1839, Athlumney, Harriet Maria Somerville, Lady, -1843, Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, Marquess, 1797-1876, Conyngham, Henry Conyngham, Marquess, 1766-1832, Conyngham, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness, -1861., Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, Marquess, 1797-1876., and George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830.
"In a plainly furnished room a whole family suffers. An elderly 'cit' and a skinny old woman register acute discomfort. Between their chairs is a round table on which is a dish of cherries and currants. A stout maidservant (left) drinks from a bottle she has taken from a store-cupboard. A little boy, a cat, and a dog are afflicted. A door opens into a bedroom (right) where a little girl relieves herself; another tries to kick her from her seat. On the wall are three shelves of books, among them 'Family Bible' and 'Family Phisician'. A magpie is in a wicker cage."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Comforts of a hot summer
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker identified as Charles Williams in the British Museum catalogue., Probably etched after a design by G.M. Woodward. For a drawing by Woodward of a similar scene, see Yale Medical Library call number: Print00232., Year of publication suggested in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Publisher's advertisement following title: Folios of caracatures [sic] lent out for the evening.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany. 12th, 1881 [sic], by S.W. Fores, 50 Piccadilly
