William Petty, Lord Shelburne, braces himself against the door to the Treasury in order to resist the pull of the rope tied around his waist. He is helped by John Dunning dressed in legal wig and cloak. The four men attempting to remove Shelburne from the Treasury are, from left to right, Charles James Fox, intent on forming a new administration; Admiral Augustus Keppel and the 3rd Duke of Richmond, both members of the Shelburne administration but opposing Shelburne; and Edmund Burke, later paymaster-general in the Fox-North administration
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and The figure on the right identified by George as Edmund Burke is identified here as Lord John Cavendish.
Publisher:
Pub. Jan. 9th, 1783 by W. Humphrey, No. 227 Strand
Subject (Geographic):
England and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805., Dunning, John, Baron Ashburton, 1731-1783., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786., Richmond, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of, 1735-1806., and Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797.
Subject (Topic):
Ropes, Tug of war, Military uniforms, British, Clothing & dress, and Politics and government, 1760-1789
"A large pot stands over a fire on the ground, a number of men stand round it, some throwing ingredients for the soup into it. A man (right) holds a torch to the bottom of the pot saying "I'll sett the whole in a blaze"; another (left) feeds the fire with folded documents inscribed ". . . esq. Bonds", saying "A new way to pay old Debts". His squint and Mephistophelian wig indicate Wilkes. Behind him an obese man looks on with his arms folded and his breeches' pockets hanging out empty; he says, "I cannot do that but I'll vote to burn the Owners". He is probably Charles Fox. A sailor wearing striped trousers hurries away from the pot, into which he is excreting, saying "Heavens a Lee Shore I'd rather face". He is evidently intended for Keppel, known as Admiral Lee Shore (see BMSat 5992, &c.) after the action off Ushant of 27 July 1778 (cf. BMSat 5626, &c), who after his court martial (see BMSat 5536) had protested against serving under Sandwich as First Lord and had been ordered to strike his flag. Next him a man holding a large basket puts a potato into the pot, saying, "G------d fire me now if I've a Potatoe left". He may be Burke (or Barré). Next sits Louis XVI facing the pot; he wears a crown and a coat covered with fleur-de-lys; with one hand he points to the sailor, with the other he holds up a frog, saying, "Dis an dat make ver good Soup". On his left stands a man with turnips (?) under his arm saying, "A very good strengthener - but will it cure. . . ". The next man holds a cow's heel over the pot saying "by Jasus nothing makes better Mutton Broth than a good Cow heel". He is perhaps Barré (or Burke). The Duke of Richmond with a ribbon and star comes up with a coal-scuttle saying "and I'll find Coals". He was the grantee of a duty on coals (granted by Charles II to his grandfather, son of the Duchess of Portsmouth). This was the notorious 'Richmond Shilling' denounced in Paine's 'Rights of Man'. A woman runs forward from the right, her sleeves turned up and wearing an apron and ragged petticoat; she says, "Stop Thief the son of a W------e has stole my Coals". On the extreme left is a grotesque monster or devil, with horns and a barbed tail, at his feet, in profile to the left kneels a bishop, his hands raised in prayer, saying, "We are gathered together in thy name". On the extreme right a spectator looks from a doorway, pointing at the scene and saying "Sing tantararara Rogues all Rogues all"."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from item. and Sheet trimmed to plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. March 16th. 1780 by T. Cornell Printsellers, Bruton Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Wilkes, John, 1725-1797, Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786., Richmond, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of, 1735-1806., and Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793.
George III, submerged in water, his head and hands raised in supplication above the waves, is being pulled out by four men standing in "Victory's Boat." They are, from left to right, Admiral Keppel, Lord Shelburne, John Dunning, and the Duke of Richmond. A "Diving Bell" with a head of a judge, possibly Thurlow, is attached to the boat by another rope. Watching from the shore are Charles James Fox, with a fox's head, and Edmund Burke. Fox comments that "As maligrida [Shelburne] now does reign / all their labour is in vain," to which Burke adds, "if boreas was here he would much swell / and prevent the efects of the Diving Bell." 'Boreas,' the fictitious designer of this print is Lord North. The printmaker Twitcher is Lord Sandwich. The title alludes to the loss of the warship "Royal George" during repairs in Portsmouth in 1782
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to John Nixon. See British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., and Mounted to 32 x 43 cm.
Publisher:
Pub. 21st. Jan. 1783, by W. Humphrey, No. 227 Strand
Subject (Geographic):
England., England, and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820., Lansdowne, William Petty, Marquis of, 1737-1805., Keppel, Augustus Keppel, Viscount, 1725-1786., Dunning, John, Baron Ashburton, 1731-1783., Richmond, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of, 1735-1806., Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806., Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797., Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806., and Royal George (Ship)
Subject (Topic):
Diving bells, Shipwrecks, Boats, Ropes, Drowning, Crowns, Clothing & dress, and Politics and government