Leaf 14. Caricatures drawn & etched by those celebrated artists Gillray, Rowlandson, Cruikshanks
Image Count:
1
Resource Type:
still image
Abstract:
"On the right is 'The old Building', an inn of old-fashioned construction with a projecting upper story and attic, representing Great Britain or the Constitution. On the left is the king, apparently asleep, driving off to Hanover in a coach with a crown on its roof. Two men and a barefooted woman who holds up two naked infants kneel beside the coach in attitudes of despairing entreaty. In the upper left corner of the print, above the coach, an eye looks towards the 'Old House' labelled, 'Turn out those Robbers and repair the House'. The robbers in possession are members of the Coalition. The lowest story, stone-built and solid but sinking beneath the weight of the upper floors, is inscribed 'Public Credit', a large padlocked gate being inscribed 'Funds'. Outside it sits Fox, in the form of a fox, on a stone inscribed 'Protector'; he points towards the padlock. A chain attached to his waist is attached to a curving pillar, inscribed 'Coalition', which is the bending support of a balcony. Beside him, seated on a turnstile, is North saying, "Give me my Ease And do as you Please". On the other side of the gateway the crown stands on a block inscribed 'To be Sold'. The first floor is supported by two massive beams or props, one, 'The Lords', being intact (indicating the part taken by the Lords in rejecting the India Bill), the other, 'Prerogative of the Crown', is almost chopped through by one of two lawyers in a first-floor window inscribed 'ye two Lawyers'; he sits with one leg over the sill wielding an axe. Beside him projects from a beam the sign of the house, 'Magna Charta', a torn document with a pendant seal; the signboard is dropping down. He is Lee the Attorney-General, pilloried for his speech on the East India Company's Charter, see British Museum Satires No. 6364, &c. Next him is another lawyer, who shakes his clenched fist towards 'Magna Charta'. He is perhaps James Mansfield (1733-1821) who succeeded Lee as Solicitor-General (Nov. 19) on the death of Wallace. The first-floor balcony, an excrescence on the original structure supported by the pillar Coalition, extends round the corner of the house above Fox and North. It is filled with revellers: a harlequin leans over it, next him is Burke, who blows a long trumpet from which issue the words 'Sheridan Sheridan Sheridan dan Sheridan', pointing towards a group on his left which includes a man (Sheridan?) flourishing a bottle and dressed as a clown or zany (cf. British Museum Satires No. 7273), and two women, one of whom resembles the Duchess of Devonshire. Beside her a large flag projects from the balcony, 'Man of the People'; on it is a fox's brush. On the rails of the balcony is a placard 'Here's the Whore of Babylon the Devil and the Pope'. The wall behind is inscribed 'The old Building'. The projecting windowless attic or cornice is divided, in front of the house into partitions numbered from 1 to 10. Round the corner (right) the wall is inscribed 'The accursed 10 years American War fomented by opposition and misconducted by a timid Minister'. The roof is composed of stones or large irregular slates, on each of which is the word 'Tax', showing that the security of the house is endangered by the weight of taxes. On it sits a bird, probably a raven of ill omen."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
View of the old house in Little Brittain and View of the old house in Little Britain
Description:
Title etched below image., Attribution to Rowlandson from the British Museum catalogue and Grego., Restrike. For original issue of the plate, see no. 6384 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 6., Letter "S" in "Strand" in imprint is etched backwards., Plate from: Caricatures drawn & etched by those celebrated artists Gillray, Rowlandson, Cruikshanks, &c. [London] : [Field & Tuer], [ca. 1868?], Cf. Grego, J. Rowlandson the caricaturist, v. 1, pages 114-5., and On leaf 14 of: Caricatures drawn & etched by those celebrated artists Gillray, Rowlandson, Cruikshanks, &c.
Publisher:
Pubd. Ian. 23, 1784, by W. Humphrey, No. 227 Strand and Field & Tuer
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and England
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Lee, John, 1733-1793, Mansfield, James, Sir, 1733-1821, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816, and Cavendish, Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire, 1757-1806
Subject (Topic):
Politics and government, Taverns (Inns), Foxes, Clowns, and Carriages & coaches
Title supplied by curator., Date and place of publication supplied by curator., This electronic record is derived from historic data and may not reflect our current information. Review and updating of records is ongoing., and Temporary local Medical Library subject terms: Mountebanks.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Topic):
Quacks and quackery, Teeth, Extraction, Medicine shows, Stages (Platforms)., Spectators, Dentistry, Clowns, Patent medicines, Ladders, and Snakes
Satire on Hogarth, shown as the mountebank painter on a stage demonstrating the beauty of a crooked line. Eight figures identified in the key below: Hogarth (H), Dr. Morell (?), appearing in a clown's costume addresses the crowd. Also appearing are Hogarth's Fool (S), Hogarth's puffer(4), Hogarth's fiddler (W), etc
Description:
Title, printmaker, and publication date from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Key to the image below image, followed by four lines of text: This arrogant quacking analist who blinded by the darkest ignorance of [the] principles of painting, has spoke so foolishly of the works of [the] greatest masters-- is hereby challeng'd to produce one piece of his either in painting, or on copper plate, that has [the] least grace, beauty or so much knowledge in proportion as may be found in common signs in every street--O will thy impudence is the certain consequence of thy ignorance.", A satire on Hogarth by Paul Sandby., and On page 288 in volume 3. Sheet trimmed to: 23 x 19 cm.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 and Morrell, Thomas, 1703-1784
Satire on Hogarth, shown as the mountebank painter on a stage demonstrating the beauty of a crooked line. Eight figures identified in the key below: Hogarth (H), Dr. Morell (?), appearing in a clown's costume addresses the crowd. Also appearing are Hogarth's Fool (S), Hogarth's puffer(4), Hogarth's fiddler (W), etc
Description:
Title, printmaker, and publication date from British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Key to the image below image, followed by four lines of text: This arrogant quacking analist who blinded by the darkest ignorance of [the] principles of painting, has spoke so foolishly of the works of [the] greatest masters-- is hereby challeng'd to produce one piece of his either in painting, or on copper plate, that has [the] least grace, beauty or so much knowledge in proportion as may be found in common signs in every street--O will thy impudence is the certain consequence of thy ignorance.", and A satire on Hogarth by Paul Sandby.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 and Morrell, Thomas, 1703-1784
