Two head-and-shoulder portraits in separate ornamental oval frames, numbered respectively No. XXXIV and No. XXXV, of a Miss L-w-s and James Lowther, later Lord Lonsdale
Alternative Title:
Cumberland Baronet
Description:
Titles etched below images. and Plate from: "Histories of the tête-à-tête annexed" in Town and country magazine. London : Printed for A. Hamilton, Jr., v. 4 (1772), page 624.
"Lord Lonsdale as Satan is seated in triumph, his right foot resting on a sack of 'Coals from the Infernal Pitt.' (Pitt gave Lowther his peerage, see BMSat 6579.) Peter Pindar (Wolcot) (left) kneels on one knee at his feet, with clasped hands, beseeching mercy. A lawyer (right) whose legs are twisted serpents crouches at his left hand writing 'Peter Pindar' in a book inscribed 'Black List'; he is the coachman of BMSat 8155. Lonsdale is a magnificently arrogant figure with horns, wings, and muscular legs which are bare from the knee, his toes being talons; he resembles the Satan of BMSat 6027. He wears an earl's coronet inscribed 'Evil be thou my Good', and a military coat with epaulettes. From his mouth issues two streams of flame ... In his left hand, which rests on his knee, is a flaming torch inscribed 'Epistle to Lord Lonsd[ale] by Peter Pindar'. Behind his head is a large halo from which radiate tongues of flame that reach to the margins of the design, each with an inscription. ... The last inscription points at the lawyer as the first does at Pindar. Pindar's clothes are ragged, toes protrude through a tattered shoe. ... From his pocket project two books: 'Odes upon Cowardice' and 'Odes of Importance alias Conciliatory Odes'. The latter, published in 1792, contained an 'Ode to Lord Lonsdale', in which Lonsdale is urged to imitate the King's forbearance towards 'the poet's harmless wit'; it is by no means abject, and threatens him with an independent jury and Erskine's irony. ... Lonsdale's attorney holds 'Briefs' and 'Writs' under his left arm, on which a brief-bag is hung. The coals issuing from Lonsdale's sack are inscribed: 'Covetousness', 'Dissimulation', 'Rapine', 'Treachery', 'Malice', 'Cruelty', 'Envy', 'Pride', 'Ingratitude', 'Deceit', 'Swindling', 'Rapine', 'Meanness'. ..."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Peter Pindar crouching to the devil
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Text following title: Sketch'd from the peep-hole at Scalegill., Dedication etched below title: To the worthy inhabitants of Cumberland, this impartial representation of the virtues of his Infernal Majesty, is respectfully dedicated., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Bag of coals -- Allusion to William Pitt, 1759-1806 -- Lawyers' brief bags -- Black lists -- Quills -- Emblems: earl's coronet -- Uniforms: military officer's uniform -- Torches -- Prayers -- Crimes: libel -- Haloes -- Literature: Pindar's Ode to Lord Lonsdale in Odes of importance, alias conciliatory odes -- Literature: Pindar's Commiserating epistle., and Mounted to 47 x 36 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 8th, 1792 (for the proprietor) by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Lonsdale, James Lowther, Earl of, 1736-1802 and Pindar, Peter, 1738-1819
"Pitt stands in front of the throne to which he points with a hand holding a number of threads attached to the noses of his supporters, who advance through a doorway, the foremost kneeling or prostrating themselves. Across his forehead is a placard inscribed 'Interest'; he says, "Approach & Salute the Broad Bottom of Royalty!!" He holds a large flag inscribed 'Standard of venality' on which are a large earl's coronet indicating Lonsdale (see British Museum Satires No. 6579), two duke's coronets, a mitre, a baron's and a viscount's coronet, and three money-bags, each inscribed 'Cole' (cf. British Museum Satires No. 6213), followed by the words 'to be Given Away'. On the ground at Pitt's feet are the words, 'Road to Preferment'. The king kneels on the throne exposing his 'broad bottom' to the Pittites; it is irradiated and to it are attached a pair of small wings; it is further adorned with Garter star and ribbon inscribed 'Honi Soit qui mal...'. He bends forward, his body in a horizontal position, so that his head and shoulders are hidden by a curtain (left) inscribed 'Secret Influence Drying Clouts! Nursing Making toast [cf. British Museum Satires No. 7923] Rocking the Cradle, &c. &c. &c.' The crowd of Pittites advances through a doorway surmounted by a large royal crown flanked by a birch-rod and a sword. Across the doorway is inscribed 'Hall of Prerogative 1784', and over the heads of the members, 'Majority of ye New P------T We are your Devoted Slaves'. Their heads are crudely drawn and few can be identified: a man in the forefront in tartan is evidently Dundas. A man full-face in the centre of the crowd who is inscribed 'Rat Catcher' and has a rat on his forehead is John (or Jack) Robinson, see British Museum Satires No. 6427, &c. Thurlow in wig and gown kneels in profile to the left, and a man on the extreme right resembles Barré. A parson in the foreground is probably Mason, cf. British Museum Satires No. 6485."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
First levee of the new Parliament
Description:
Title from item., Temporary local subject terms: Parliamentary levees -- Secret influence -- Members of Parliament as slaves -- Royal prerogative -- Homage -- 'Broad Bottom'., Watermark in center of sheet: J Whatman., and Mounted to 29 x 46 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. as the act directs, May 29, 1784, by T. Hardy, Strand
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Lonsdale, James Lowther, Earl of, 1736-1802, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806, Robinson, John, 1727-1802, Barré, Isaac, 1726-1802, and Mason, William, 1725-1797
Subject (Topic):
Thrones, Buttocks, Legislators, Kneeling, Crowns, Flags, and Bribery
"Lord Lonsdale with the head of a wolf sits in his carriage, from which the horses have been taken, and is drawn (left to right) by men past a row of two-storied cottages which are falling to pieces. He wears an earl's coronet, and a military coat with a shirt frill; from his rapacious mouth issue the words 'Dear Gentlemen this is too much, now you really distress me'. A large earl's coronet is on the carriage door. A hind wheel rolls over an open book, 'Peter Pindar'. A stout fierce-looking man wearing a legal wig sits on the box, raising a whip whose lashes are three scrolls inscribed (in legal blackletter), 'Littledale versus Lonsdale', 'Indemnifications', and 'Sham Trials'. He holds a bunch of reins attached to the necks of the men dragging the carriage, on whose faces are fixed, propitiatory grins. From his pockets issue a volume inscribed 'Blackstone', and a paper: 'Bills unpaid'; he is Lonsdale's 'clerk and attorney', see BMSat 8156. Two of the men whom he drives say: "No Ropes equal to mine, at a dead pull and A glorious night for my Brewery". Another man is in rags. In front of the procession and on the extreme right walk two couples holding hands. These carry three banners, inscribed: 'The good Samaritan', 'The Lion The Lamb', and: 'The Blues are bound in Adamantine Chains But Freedom round each Yellow Mansion reigns.' One of the men says slyly to the woman he walks with: 'And makes the Farmers Wives & Daughters Game' This is a quotation from Peter Pindar's 'Commiserating Epistle to Lord Lonsdale', see BMSat 8003. The context is: 'Yet why should Hares, and Partridges, and Grouse, Alone be ravish'd from the Farmer's house ? - Go, Lonsdale, get an Act to raise thy fame, And make . . .' Behind the carriage (left) is a cheering crowd; they wave their hats frantically shouting, "Liberty, Huzza, Huzza." The man in the foreground is a sailor with a bludgeon. Over the door of one of the ruined cottages is a placard: 'To lett convenient lodgings.'"--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark on lower edge., and Matted to 56 x 71 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. Jany. 20th, 1792, by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street
