"A bull (John Bull) in profile to the right sinks, snorting with distress, under the weight of five persons. The foremost, astride the animal s neck, is the Emperor Leopold; he holds the legs of Catherine II, a stout virago, who sits on his shoulders, brandishing her orb and sceptre. She says, "Where's all your boasting now my old Bull! by St George I knew I could bring you upon your knees! ay, and before I have done riding you I'll make you knock under." Behind Leopold sits George III, saying, "Don't mind, don't mind, don't mind [a parody of the King's manner of conversation], he'll soon recover, It's all sham, his stumbling". Frederick William of Prussia sits behind George III, wearing regimentals with jack-boots. Behind him sits a fat Dutchman (Holland) smoking a pipe. Behind, and on the left, is a group of three persons on a smaller scale. Pitt, in profile to the left, seizes by the collar a lean and ragged British citizen (John Bull), saying, "No grumbling, you rascal! You must pay the Piper to be sure. What the devil, surely you couldn't expect the great folks that represent you to contribute a shilling! Besides you are a damn'd saucy fellow, master Bull, and you must be tam'd." Bull answers, "Tam'd: why, good God, Sir, I have scarcely a morsel of bread to eat, and even the Small Beer is Tax'd above my purchase!" On the extreme left a lean man kneels, blowing a trumpet and looking up at Pitt; he is perhaps an ironical representation of Fame."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Who pays the piper?
Description:
Sheet trimmed within plate mark resulting in loss of title, imprint and publisher's advertisement. Title and publication information from British Museum catalogue., Attributed to H.W., i.e., either Henry Wigstead or William Holland, in the British Museum catalogue., and Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Russian Armament -- Bulls -- Crowns -- Scepters -- Walking staves -- Musicians: pipers -- Musical instruments: pipes -- Smoking pipes -- Holland.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 11, 1791, by Willm Holland, No. 50 Oxford Street
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796, Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1747-1792, Frederick William II, King of Prussia, 1744-1797, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), Great Britain, and Politics and government
"Pitt as Don Quixote (and Petruchio) bestrides a sorry rosinante, the white horse of Hanover, scarred and decrepit and apparently at the point of death. Behind him sits the King of Prussia. Holland, as Sancho Panza, on the animal's hind-quarters, clasps Prussia round the waist. The Sultan, on the extreme left, crouches behind the horse, kissing its tail. Pitt, who holds a whip, points a thin mail-clad hand arrogantly at Catherine of Russia (right), a stout woman who has sunk in terror to her knees, but is supported by the Emperor Leopold and by France, a grotesquely lean Frenchman of the old reĢgime, wearing a cocked hat ornamented with fleur-de-lis. Pitt wears Mambrino's helmet (the barber's basin) surmounted by a crown and a feather. He says: ""Katharine, that cap of yours becomes you not; "Off with that bauble, 'tis my royal will." The 'cap' is a crescent in her hair, symbolizing her conquests from Turkey and, more especially, Oczakoff, the place in dispute. Pitt's horse (George III), says, weeping, "Heigho! to have myself thus rid to death, by a Boy & his playmates, merely to frighten an Old Woman - I wish I was back in Hanover to get myself a belly full". A holster on the animal's neck is inscribed 'G.R', but the 'G' has been struck out and replaced by 'P' (to indicate that Pitt has usurped the prerogative of the Crown, cf. BMSat 7479, &c). The King of Prussia, with his chin on Pitt's shoulder, glares fiercely; he holds a drawn sabre and says, "Blood & Dunder, I would give her one good Prussian stroking". Sancho Panza, a fat Dutchman, says, "I'm in a good humour to give her a dram of right Holland's". The crouching Turk cries obsequiously, "Amman! Amman! Anglois, Alia, Alia". Catherine is terrified, she turns away from Pitt exclaiming: ""I see my Lances are but straws; "My strength is weak, my weakness past compare; "And am asham'd, that Women are so simple "To offer War when they should kneel for Peace." France says, "O, by Gar! if Mirabeau was but 'live! Sacre Dieu." The Emperor, who is crowned, and wears a cloak on which is the Habsburg eagle, says, "Das is de devil, to give up all again". Beside Catherine is a sword tying across a plan of a fortress, Oczakow."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
What you will and Modern Quixote
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Allusion to Don Quixote -- Horse of Hanover -- George III as the Horse of Hanover -- Weapons: sabre -- Horse whip -- Allusion to Oczakow -- Allusion to Triple Alliance (England, Prussia and Holland)., and Watermark: J Whatman.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 20th, 1791, by S.W. Fores, Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796, Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1747-1792, Frederick William II, King of Prussia, 1744-1797, Selim III, Sultan of the Turks, 1761-1808, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
