A satire of Pitt's return to office in 1804. Pitt is shown in the chamber of Britannia. Britannia sits listlessly on a bed, holding a sword in one hand. Next to her, leaning against the bed, is her shield and olive branches. Pitt holds aloft a bottle labelled "Constitutional Restorative" as he kicks another man, a caricature of Addington, through the door. Addington is in the process of dropping a bottle labelled "Composing Draft". With his other foot, Pitt steps on the face of a flailing and prostrate Fox, who holds a bottle labelled "Rebublican Balsam" towards Britannia. From Fox's pocket dice and a dice container labelled "Whig Pills" have fallen. Emerging from behind the bed curtains, the figure of Death, a skeleton with the face and plumed bicorne of Napoleon, overturns a table and upsets bottles of medicine and points his sword toward the unsuspecting Britannia
Description:
Title etched below image. and In paper frame: 450 x 330 mm. Stamped in upper right corner: "84."
Publisher:
Publish'd May 20th 1804 by H. Humphrey
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character) and Politics & government
"The full face of Clifford, based on a fashionably swathed neck-cloth and high coat-collar, fills the design. The mouth is open as if shouting. The eyes and part of the cheeks are covered by circles representing huge spectacles. Each contains a symmetrical view of Covent Garden Theatre seen from the stage, showing pit, three tiers of boxes, and the centre of the two galleries (the 'pigeon-holes' not appearing), all crowded. The views differ only in the performers on the stage, two actors on the right (one clearly Kemble, probably as Macbeth), and on the left two actors and a file of soldiers. Superimposed on the middle of each circular design is a large 'O' (left) and 'P' (right). Round the broad rims of the spectacles: (left) 'Old House Old Prices & No Private Boxes' and (right) 'Old House Old Prices & No Pigeon Holes'. On the bridge across the nose: 'N.P.B.' (No Private Boxes, see British Museum Satires No. 11421)."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Print made collaboratively by Isaac and George Cruikshank, with the latter responsible for the tiny figures in the spectacles. See British Museum catalogue., and Sheet trimmed to plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. by T. Tegg, 111 Cheapside
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Clifford, Henry, 1768-1813, Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823, Covent Garden Theatre,, and Covent Garden Theatre
Subject (Topic):
Theaters, Eyeglasses, Theater audiences, Actors, and Theatrical productions
