James Gillray : The Suppressed Plates
Print
1791-2 (first published), ca. 1850 (printed)
1791-2 (first published), ca. 1850 (printed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Two plates from an album containing 45 numbered prints on wove paper, the majority printed two per page, recto only. Numbered 21 and 22 respectively, number 21 depicts Charles Cornwallis, mounted on a mule wearing a nose-bag, retreating in horror from a fortress. Behind the battlements of the fortress stands the figure of Tipu Sultan, brandishing a sabre, and urinating with extreme force and gusto onto a group of fleeing British soldiers. Two cannon fire at the British from loopholes just in front of Tipu Sultan. Cornwallis wears a Garter star and gallops from the scene, dropping his sabre and hat. Lettered with title, a long caption, and the original publisher's name, date, and address.
The second print on the same page is entitled 'Taking Physick' and depicts the King and Queen sitting side by side on a double lavatory. Above them is the royal coat of arms, depicting the lion looking down at them and excreting. William Pitt has burst into the room with some urgency to show them a paper inscribed 'News from Sweden', with the headline 'Another Monarch done over!' in reference to the shooting of Gustavus III of Sweden, shot in an assassination attempt in the Stockholm Opera House on 16th March, 1792. He died two weeks later and the staggered news reached London on 5th April and 13th April respectively. Lettered with title, captions, and original publisher's name and address.
The second print on the same page is entitled 'Taking Physick' and depicts the King and Queen sitting side by side on a double lavatory. Above them is the royal coat of arms, depicting the lion looking down at them and excreting. William Pitt has burst into the room with some urgency to show them a paper inscribed 'News from Sweden', with the headline 'Another Monarch done over!' in reference to the shooting of Gustavus III of Sweden, shot in an assassination attempt in the Stockholm Opera House on 16th March, 1792. He died two weeks later and the staggered news reached London on 5th April and 13th April respectively. Lettered with title, captions, and original publisher's name and address.
Object details
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Object type | |
Titles |
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Materials and techniques | Engravings on wove paper |
Brief description | Two plates from an album of 40 'suppressed' caricatures featuring sexual, scatalogical and politically outrageous subject matter by James Gillray (1756-1815). Issued mid-19th century. |
Physical description | Two plates from an album containing 45 numbered prints on wove paper, the majority printed two per page, recto only. Numbered 21 and 22 respectively, number 21 depicts Charles Cornwallis, mounted on a mule wearing a nose-bag, retreating in horror from a fortress. Behind the battlements of the fortress stands the figure of Tipu Sultan, brandishing a sabre, and urinating with extreme force and gusto onto a group of fleeing British soldiers. Two cannon fire at the British from loopholes just in front of Tipu Sultan. Cornwallis wears a Garter star and gallops from the scene, dropping his sabre and hat. Lettered with title, a long caption, and the original publisher's name, date, and address. The second print on the same page is entitled 'Taking Physick' and depicts the King and Queen sitting side by side on a double lavatory. Above them is the royal coat of arms, depicting the lion looking down at them and excreting. William Pitt has burst into the room with some urgency to show them a paper inscribed 'News from Sweden', with the headline 'Another Monarch done over!' in reference to the shooting of Gustavus III of Sweden, shot in an assassination attempt in the Stockholm Opera House on 16th March, 1792. He died two weeks later and the staggered news reached London on 5th April and 13th April respectively. Lettered with title, captions, and original publisher's name and address. |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Credit line | Gift from the Ministry of Justice |
Object history | A satire on the retreat of Cornwallis from Seringapatam (see also 'Rare News from India, or, Things Going On Swimmingly in the East' by W. Dent, 1791), Cornwallis's letter of 16th May to Sir Charles Oakeley (Cornwallis Correspondence ii. 91), published in The Gazette, appears to be satirized in the quotation from Henry IV, Part I, ii. 4. |
Subjects depicted | |
Bibliographic reference | |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.685:13-2014 |
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Record created | October 24, 2014 |
Record URL |
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