"A creature with the head of Sir Joseph Banks, a body defined by the ribbon of the Bath and roughly in the form of a chrysalis, and with the wings of a butterfly, rises (right) from a mud flat surrounded by sea. His head and body are decorated with trails of leaves; on his wings are sea-creatures: a shell, lobster, starfish, &c, and an (empty) cornucopia. He wears the jewel of the Bath with three insects (in place of crowns) in the centre. He is rising towards rays which radiate from a sun enclosing a crown in the upper right corner of the design. Caterpillars are emerging from the mud flat. Beneath the title: 'Description of the New Bath Butterfly - taken from the "Philosophical Transactions for 1795" - "This Insect first crawl'd into notice from among the Weeds & Mud on the Banks of the South Sea; & being afterwards placed in a Warm Situation by the Royal Society, was changed by the heat of the Sun into its present form------ it is notic'd & Valued Solely on account of the beautiful Red which encircles its Body, & the Shining Spot on its Breast; a Distinction which never fails to render Caterpillars valuable.'"--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath butterfly
Description:
Title etched below image.
Publisher:
H. Humphrey, No. 37 New Bond Street
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Banks, Joseph,--1743-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., and Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Date of publication based on that of the volume in which the print appears., Frontispiece to: Pindar, P. Sir Joseph Banks and the Emperor of Morocco. London : Printed by G. Kearsley ..., [1788], Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires., Probably by Rowlandson. See simillar frontispieces by Rowlandson for Pindar's poems in the British Museum catalogue, nos. 7051, 7186, 7431., and Title assigned by curator.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Banks, Joseph,--1743-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., and Harvey, Francis--Ownership.
"Five ugly and elderly members of the Royal Society are seated in arm-chairs at a rectangular dinner-table. A footman (right) is about to place on the table a dish containing an alligator ..."--British Museum catalogue.
Description:
Date of publication based on that of the volume in which the print appears., Frontispiece to: Pindar, P. Peter's prophecy, or, The president and poet ... London : Printed by G. Kearsley ..., [1788], and Title from British Museum catalogue.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Banks, Joseph,--1743-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., and Harvey, Francis--Ownership.