"A crowded scene, the amateurs of the Pic Nic Society are dressing and rehearsing. The design may derive from Hogarth's 'Actresses dressing in a Barn' (BMSat 2403), Gillray stressing the contrast between his luxurious mise-en-scène and the squalor of Hogarth's players. The centre figure is Lady Buckinghamshire, enormous, florid, and gorgeous, her skirts outspread, standing before a dressing-table, touching one of many patches on her face and holding her part, that of 'Roxana' [in Lee's tragedy, 'The Rival Queens; or the Death of Alexander the Great']. Under her dressing-table is a square bottle of 'Usquebaugh' and a glass. On Roxana's l., with her back to the dressing-table, sits Lady Salisbury, her legs crossed and much exposed, pulling on a laced boot. Her neck is swathed with a spotted cravat as in BMSat 9908. Near her on the floor are the second boot, a pair of breeches, and her part: 'the Part of Squire Groom to be per[formed], by [Lady Salisbu]ry'. She gazes at the huge Lord Cholmondeley who stands in profile to the left., dominating the left. of the design. He is dressed as Cupid; a tunic covered with a design of ring-doves, hearts, arrows, and cross a torches defines a vast paunch across which is a tricolour ribbon inscribed 'Amor Vincit Omnia'. He has butterfly wings, massive quiver filled with heavy arrows, and holds an arrow in his left hand. He stands impassively, his head wreathed with flowers. In the foreground, in front of Cholmondeley stands the tiny Lord Mount Edgcumbe in a swaggering attitude, studying his part: 'Alexander the Great', as in BMSat 9916. He wears armour, with a swathed cravat and vandyked ruff, and a helmet on which is a dragon spitting fire. Facing Cholmondeley and immediately behind Lady Salisbury is little Lord Derby blowing a French horn. Behind is a group of musicians: Lord Carlisle (l.) blows the bassoon with a melancholy expression, facing Lord Salisbury who pompously plays a small fiddle. Between them is Col. Greville or Lord Abercorn playing the triangle. ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
Peep at the green room
Description:
Title etched below image.
Publisher:
H. Humprey, No. 27 St. James's Street
Subject (Name):
Abercorn, John James Hamilton,--Marquess of,--1756-1818--Caricatures and cartoons., Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Buckinghamshire, Albinia Hobart,--Countess of,--1738-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Carlisle, Frederick Howard,--Earl of,--1748-1825--Caricatures and cartoons., Cecil, Mary Amelia,--Marchioness of Salisbury,--1750-1835--Caricatures and cartoons., Cholmondeley, George James Cholmondeley,--Marquess of,--1749-1827--Caricatures and cartoons., Fitzherbert, Maria Anne,--1756-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., George--IV,--King of Great Britain,--1762-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., Hanger, George,--1751?-1824--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n97861435, Jersey, Frances Villiers,--Countess of,--1753-1821--Caricatures and cartoons., Mount Edgcumbe, Richard Edgcumbe,--Earl of,--1764-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Queensberry, William Douglas,--Duke of,--1725-1810--Caricatures and cartoons., Salisbury, James Cecil,--Marquess of,--1748-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Skeffington, Lumley St. George,--Sir,--1771-1850--Caricatures and cartoons., and Smith-Stanley, Edward,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons.
"The members of the Secret Committee of the Commons are seated round a table examining the documents relating to the United Irishmen and other revolutionary societies. A lamp on the table illuminates a large framed transparency [The transparency, a large pictorial design lit from behind, was a popular form of street illumination. On 5 Nov. 1813 (for the battle of Leipzig) Ackermann displayed on the façade of his 'Repository' Rowlandson's 'The Two Kings of terror, afterwards published as a print. Broadley, i. 338.] divided into four equal sections which hangs from the ceiling and conceals the heads of the Committee ; the four scenes depict the supposed intentions of the revolutionaries. The transparency is irradiated, throwing into deep shadow members of the Opposition in the foreground (right), who flee from the room in a body, terror-struck. The nearest (three-quarter length) are Erskine, clutching a brief-bag, Fox, M. A. Taylor, and Norfolk. Behind these are Tierney, Sheridan, and Nicholls; in the last row are Sir J. Sinclair, Burdett, Moira, Bedford. The two most prominent members, though in back view with heads obscured, suggest Pitt (left) and Dundas (right); they read papers inscribed 'Scheme to Overthrow the British Constitution, & to seize on all public Property and Invitation to the French Republic'. Over the edge of the table hang the bulky 'Reports of the Secret Committee of the House of Commons.' On the floor are four papers: 'Names of Traitors now sufferd to remain at large'; 'Oath of the Members of the Society of the United Irishmen in London'; 'Account of ye Lodge of United Englishmen, & of the Monks of St Ann's Shrine' [see BMSat 9217]; 'Proceedings of the London Corresponding Society with a list of all the Members.' [See BMSat 9189, &c] The transparency is suspended on tricolour ribbons. Titles are engraved on the frame: [1] 'Plundering the Bank'. A scene in the Rotunda; tiny figures hasten off with sacks of gold, the most prominent being Tierney with '£10000'. Sir William Pulteney (identified from his resemblance to BMSat 9212) staggers off to the left with two sacks; the poker-like Moira has a sack on his head; two men dispute over a sack, one being Walpole with his huge cocked hat, the other resembling Jekyll; Sheridan (right) slouches off with two sacks. Proletarians exult over small money-bags. [2] 'Assassinating the Parliament'. The interior of the House of Commons is realistically depicted; the Opposition violently attack the occupants of the Government benches, daggers being the chief weapon. Erskine (left) is about to murder Dundas; Fox strikes at Pitt, holding him by the throat, while Sheridan is about to stab Pitt in the back. The puny Walpole tries to drag the Speaker from his chair, while Burdett raises the mace to smite him. Sir John Sinclair raises a broadsword to smite a man held down by little M. A. Taylor. Volumes of 'Acts and Statutes' fall to the floor. [3] 'Seizing the Crown. \ Scene the Tower'. Exulting plunderers emerge from the gate of the Tower on to the drawbridge. Bedford, dressed as a jockey (cf. BMSat 9380), walks ahead with two sacks: 'New Coinage' and 'New Guineas'; Fox, [Identified by Grego as Lansdowne.] smiling, holds the crown; Lauderdale, wearing a kilt, carries the sceptre. Just behind is Sir George Shuckburgh. Stanhope (or Grattan) carries a sack, 'Regalia of E[ngland]'. On the right a chimney-sweep and others dance round a bonfire in which 'Records' are burning. Cf. BMSat 7354, where Fox carries off the crown from the Tower. [4] 'Establishing the French Government. \ St James s Palace'. French troops march with arrogant goose-step and fixed bayonets into the gateway of the palace; their large tricolour flag is inscribed 'Vive la Republique Français'. In the foreground is planted a tall spear surmounted by a bonnet-rouge (a tree of Liberty, cf. BMSat 9214, &c.); at its base are decollated heads wearing coronets and a mitre. They are cheered by spectators (right): Grattan holding 'Grattans Address', Norfolk holding his staff, Lord Derby in hunting-dress standing on an overturned sentry-box, Moira standing like a ramrod. ...."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Title etched below image. and Two lines of text below title: Representing the Secret-Committee throwing a light upon the dark sketches of a revolution found among the papers of the Jacobin societies lately apprehended ...
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, Francis Russell,--Duke of,--1765-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Dundas, Henry,--1742-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Gillray, James, 1756-1815, artist. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50033402, Grattan, Henry,--1746-1820--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n97861435, Jekyll, Joseph,--1754-1837--Caricatures and cartoons., Lauderdale, James Maitland,--Earl of,--1759-1839--Caricatures and cartoons., Nicholls, John,--1745?-1832--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, William,--1759-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Pulteney, William--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Shuckburgh-Evelyn, George Augustus William,--Sir,--1751-1804--Caricatures and cartoons., Sinclair, John,--Sir,--1754-1835--Caricatures and cartoons., Smith-Stanley, Edward,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Stanhope, Charles Stanhope,--Earl,--1753-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., and Walpole, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons.
"Lord Hawkesbury as a drummer boy, very thin and weedy, marches (left to right) in front of John Bull with awkward and shambling aggressiveness; he steps on to a rotten plank inscribed 'Heart of Oak' which connects the shores of England and France. His drum-sticks are a rolled document, 'Preliminaries', and an olive branch. Across his dishevelled bearskin is a ribbon: 'Peace'; from it hangs the end of a fool's cap. From his coat-pocket issues a paper: 'Instructions from Park Place' [Pitt's London address]; [So given in the Royal Kalendar (alphabetical list of the House of Commons). Broadley notes that Malmesbury lived at Park Place, Henley (this was his third country house). The crest on the drum, as well as political probability, supports the Pitt interpretation.] his drum is slung from his neck by a tricolour ribbon, and has on its side the Pitt crest, a stork holding an anchor. His expression is deprecatingly wary; and he looks sideways at John Bull, who is accompanied by a swarm of little English 'Jacobins'. He says: "Allons, Enfans de la Patrie! - now's your time Johnny! - my dear Boys! - did not I promise long ago, to take my Friends by the hand, & lead them on to March to the Gates of Paris? - Allons! vive la Liberta!!" In the narrow Channel which he is about to cross float Britannia's discarded shield, a large money-bag of '£400 Million', and papers inscribed: 'Malta', 'West India Islands', 'Cape of Good Hope', 'Map of Egypt', 'Restoration of French Monarchy', 'List of Soldiers & Sailors Killed'. John Bull (left), a simple yokel, very fat and good-natured, marches after Hawkesbury in high glee waving his hat; over his civilian dress is a sword-belt from which a sword falls to the ground, hilt downwards. He shouts: "Rule Britannia! - \ Britannia Rules the Waves!!! \ Caira! - Caira!" He is being urged forward by a crowd of little figures, members of the Opposition, who wave or wear their bonnets rouges. They vary in scale: the most prominent is Fox who marches along blowing a trumpet; Norfolk drags John forward, clutching his coat with both hands; behind Norfolk Tierney's head appears. Behind Fox is Sheridan pushing John from behind; on Sheridan's right is General Walpole; on his left, Burdett. Behind him on the extreme left is Moira, with a conspicuous whisker. Other persons are represented by arms waving caps. In front and under John's feet are three tiny naked mannikins: Nicholls holdup his eyeglass, his legs attached to his shoulders to show that he is 'nobody', cf. BMSat 5570; the paunchy Derby, blowing a French horn, and, smallest of all, M. A. Taylor blowing a trumpet. Across the water, in France, and on the extreme right, is a ramshackle building, perhaps a ruined church, with a large placard: 'Vive la Liberta'. Before it is planted a Tree of Liberty; a garlanded pole supporting an enormous bonnet rouge, round which tiny simian figures dance, holding hands. They wear bonnets rouges and have tails."--British Museum online catalogue.
Alternative Title:
John Bull and his little friends "marching to Paris"
Description:
Title etched in top part of image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Burdett, Francis,--1770-1844--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n97861435, Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson,--Earl of,--1770-1828--Caricatures and cartoons., Nicholls, John,--1745?-1832--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Smith-Stanley, Edward,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Taylor, Michael Angelo,--1757-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., and Walpole, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons.
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character)--Caricatures and cartoons.
"A drunken debauch in the new Union Club, see BMSat 9698. A long table, the cloth removed, one end cut off by the left margin, stretches almost across the design, slanting back slightly from the left, where it is in the foreground, and where Fox, grossly corpulent, sits in an armchair asleep, his feet on the table, a pipe in one hand. Nearly opposite his feet is the chair of state, on the table; on the empty seat is the Prince's cocked hat with triple plume, his motto 'Ich Di[en]' within the crown. The chair is backed by an elaborate architectural canopy with ornate pilasters on which swags of fruit and flowers are carved in relief: (left) grapes and lemons (materials for punch), and (right) roses and shamrocks. Above the seat are figures of Britannia and Erin, kissing, standing on a curved base inscribed 'The Union'. On the back of the chair are two clasped hands, elaborately irradiated. The chair is surrounded by broken wine-bottles; its former occupant, the Prince, lies on his back under the table, one arm flung over Lord Stanhope, who lies unconscious, clasping a bottle. On the Prince's stomach rest two feet in shoes with spiked, upcurved toes. In the foreground, opposite the Prince, Norfolk lies with his head against the seat of his overturned chair, looking very ill. All who are not incapacitated or fighting are toasting the Union (except Lansdowne and Parr, see below). On the table sits Moira, dressed as in BMSat 9386, a glass of wine held high above his head, his right leg thrust forward, while he stretches back to take the hand of Lord Clermont, [This is clear from the resemblance to BMSat 9575, and is supported by the shamrock which he and the other Irishmen wear. It is confirmed by 'London und Paris', vii. 80, where it is said that he and Moira were once bitter enemies. He is identified by Grego as General Manners, see BMSat 9288.] seated next Sheridan on the farther side of the table. Facing Clermont and in back view, Camelford sits erect, wearing a Jean de Bry coat (see BMSat 9425) and small round hat, with cropped hair. [The identification (that of Grego) is confirmed by BMSat 9716, Wright and Evans give Burdett, E. Hawkins 'Mr Manners'.] Beside him (right) two waiters bring in a full tub of Whiskey Punch, which they spill; one treads on the face of the prostrate Nicholls. Near the end of the table (right) sits Derby, his large head and crumpled features grotesquely caricatured. In the foreground on the extreme right Montagu Mathew (as in BMSat 9560) and Skeffington (as in BMSat 9557) advance dancing arm-in-arm, with tipsy grace, the former with a bottle in each hand; one reversed, the other, held above his head, splashes its contents over his partner's uplifted glass. (The pair, according to 'London und Paris', vii, 1801, p. 76, were known as inseparables in fashionable London resorts, cf. BMSat 9755.) ..."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Four lines of verse on either side of title: "We'll join hand in hand, all party shall cease, "and glass after glass, shall our union increase ... and Title etched below image.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Bedford, Francis Russell,--Duke of,--1765-1802--Caricatures and cartoons., Cholmondeley, George James Cholmondeley,--Marquess of,--1749-1827--Caricatures and cartoons., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., George--IV,--King of Great Britain,--1762-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., Hanger, George,--1751?-1824--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings,--Marquess of,--1754-1826--Caricatures and cartoons., Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n97861435, Jones, Thomas Tyrwhitt,--Sir,--1765-1811--Caricatures and cartoons., Kirkcudbright, John Maclellan,--Lord,--1729-1801--Caricatures and cartoons., Lansdowne, William Petty,--Marquis of,--1737-1805--Caricatures and cartoons., Nicholls, John,--1745?-1832--Caricatures and cartoons., Norfolk, Charles Howard,--Duke of,--1746-1815--Caricatures and cartoons., Parr, Samuel,--1747-1825--Caricatures and cartoons., Pitt, Thomas,--Baron Camelford,--1775-1804--Caricatures and cartoons., Queensberry, William Douglas,--Duke of,--1725-1810--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Skeffington, Lumley St. George,--Sir,--1771-1850--Caricatures and cartoons., Smith-Stanley, Edward,--1752-1834--Caricatures and cartoons., Stanhope, Charles Stanhope,--Earl,--1753-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., Sturt, Charles,--1763-1812--Caricatures and cartoons., Tierney, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons., and Walpole, George,--1761-1830--Caricatures and cartoons.