"John Palmer (left), striding across a miniature circular tower surrounded by a moat, falls back under the attacks of two men on the other side of the moat. He wears pseudo-Elizabethan dress, with a cloak; his feathered hat falls off. On his arm, in place of a shield, is a document inscribed 'Licence . . . Wild-moat'; he drops from his right hand a paper inscribed 'Tower Privilege'. Cornwallis, saying, "I am down again". Miniature cannon are firing from the tower. Facing him, one foot on an upturned tub inscribed 'For the Use of Cov: Gar. Wardrobe', is a man wearing nightcap, dressing-gown, and slippers, with an apron, who is about to hurl a bar inscribed 'Castile Soap', saying, "I am a Gentleman, you Vagabond"; on his left arm, in place of a shield, is a paper inscribed 'An Act for regulating the Stage'. He is probably George Colman. Beside him, his left arm in a sling, a young man (? Colman the younger) discharges at Palmer a blast from a pistol inscribed 'Breach of Articles'. Three spectators stand close together on the right, saying, "Mr Palmer, we must oppose: we told you so at Christmas!" They are Sheridan and probably his partners, Linley and Dr. Ford. In the background (right) is a building inscribed 'Circus', in front of which a man stands on one toe on the back of a galloping horse, while a monkey stands on its head on the back of a pig; the pig's saddle is inscribed 'Jacko'; from its mouth issues 'ABC', representing Astley's, General Jacko, and the Learned Pig (see BMSat 6715, &c); a scroll issuing in a curve from Astley and Jacko is inscribed 'We shall all Play'. In the moat are frogs and the bodies of two tiny women, Tragedy and Comedy, one holding a cup and dagger, the other a mask."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Plenipotentiary ; n. 5
Description:
CtY-LW, Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Series title etched in upper right corner of plate. For another print in the series, see No. 7171 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., Sheet trimmed to plate mark on one side., Temporary local subject terms: Male costume: Pseudo-Elizabethan -- Male costume: night clothes -- Unlicensed theatres: Royalty Theatre -- Allusion to Covent Garden -- Learned pigs -- Castile soap -- Lighting: rushlights -- Slings -- Body of Tragedy -- Body of Comedy -- Moats -- Guns: Pistols -- Miniature cannons -- Stage properties: tub -- Horace Walpole refers to print -- Towers -- Circuses: Astley's Circus -- Performing monkies: General Jacko., and Title etched below image.
Publisher:
S. W. Fores, No. 3 Piccadilly
Subject (Name):
Astley, Philip,--1742-1814., Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Colman, George,--1732-1794--Caricatures and cartoons., Colman, George,--1762-1836--Caricatures and cartoons., Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis,--Marquis,--1738-1805., Ford, Edward,--1746-1809--Caricatures and cartoons., Fores, S. W., publisher., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Linley, Thomas,--1733-1795--Caricatures and cartoons., Palmer, John,--1742?-1798--Caricatures and cartoons., and Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons.
