Not currently on display at the V&A

James Gillray : The Suppressed Plates

Print
1797-9 (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 38 and 39 respectively, number 38 depicts Courtenay as the chairman of the tavern club, sitting at the head of a table, smoking. The other figures present are George Hanger,Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and M. A. Taylor. They are all drinking champagne and brandy. Above Courtenay on the wall is a picture of a clothed monkey, smoking a pipe. Lettered with titles, captions, artist's initials, and the original publisher's name and address.

The second print on the same page is entitled 'Duke William's Ghost' and depicts the Prince of Wales, passed out in a drunken stupor, with broken bottles and wine spilt on the floor. An apparition of his great-uncle, William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, looms out of a cloud at the foot of the bed. Seen from behind, he is naked save for a cocked hat and sabre, with enormous buttocks making up the bulk of the body. He holds aloft an hour-glass, whose sands are about to run out, as a warning to the Prince about the risk of over-indulgence. Lettered with title, artist's name, and the original publisher's name and address.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • James Gillray : The Suppressed Plates (popular title)
  • The Feast of Reason & The Flow of the Soul (assigned by artist)
  • Duke William's Ghost (assigned by artist)
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 38 and 39 respectively, number 38 depicts Courtenay as the chairman of the tavern club, sitting at the head of a table, smoking. The other figures present are George Hanger,Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and M. A. Taylor. They are all drinking champagne and brandy. Above Courtenay on the wall is a picture of a clothed monkey, smoking a pipe. Lettered with titles, captions, artist's initials, and the original publisher's name and address.

The second print on the same page is entitled 'Duke William's Ghost' and depicts the Prince of Wales, passed out in a drunken stupor, with broken bottles and wine spilt on the floor. An apparition of his great-uncle, William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, looms out of a cloud at the foot of the bed. Seen from behind, he is naked save for a cocked hat and sabre, with enormous buttocks making up the bulk of the body. He holds aloft an hour-glass, whose sands are about to run out, as a warning to the Prince about the risk of over-indulgence. Lettered with title, artist's name, and the original publisher's name and address.
Dimensions
  • Height: 63.5cm
  • Sheet width: 48.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Pubd. Feb 4th 1797 by H Humphrey, New Bond Street (Lettered underneath plate 38)
  • Pubd May 7th 1799 by H Humphrey, 27 St James's Street (Lettered underneath plate 39)
Credit line
Gift from the Ministry of Justice
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
E.685:22-2014

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Record createdOctober 27, 2014
Record URL
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