James Gillray : The Suppressed Plates
Print
1792-1802 (first published), ca. 1850 (printed)
1792-1802 (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 23 and 24 respectively, number 23 depicts Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville in profile, wearing Highland dress, a Scots cap, and a legal wig. Underneath the voluminous tartan hides William Pitt, his face peeking out of the folds, and his feet visible. He sits on a low stool, inscribed 'Extracts from the Treasury'. Lettered with title and the original publisher's name, date, and address.
The second print on the same page is entitled 'Going to London through Epping Forest' and depicts a grotesque woman wearing a calash hood, lifting her petticoats to step over a low bush dotted with fruits. She clutches a paper entitled 'Wonderful Aeronauts' and is headed for a small structure containing a latrine. Two clear rings encircle the bush, making the image a possible satire on the work of the French balloonist, André-Jacques Garnerin, who flew from Lord's Cricket Ground to Enfield on 5th July1802. Lettered with title and original publisher's name and address.
The second print on the same page is entitled 'Going to London through Epping Forest' and depicts a grotesque woman wearing a calash hood, lifting her petticoats to step over a low bush dotted with fruits. She clutches a paper entitled 'Wonderful Aeronauts' and is headed for a small structure containing a latrine. Two clear rings encircle the bush, making the image a possible satire on the work of the French balloonist, André-Jacques Garnerin, who flew from Lord's Cricket Ground to Enfield on 5th July1802. Lettered with title 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 23 and 24 respectively, number 23 depicts Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville in profile, wearing Highland dress, a Scots cap, and a legal wig. Underneath the voluminous tartan hides William Pitt, his face peeking out of the folds, and his feet visible. He sits on a low stool, inscribed 'Extracts from the Treasury'. Lettered with title and the original publisher's name, date, and address. The second print on the same page is entitled 'Going to London through Epping Forest' and depicts a grotesque woman wearing a calash hood, lifting her petticoats to step over a low bush dotted with fruits. She clutches a paper entitled 'Wonderful Aeronauts' and is headed for a small structure containing a latrine. Two clear rings encircle the bush, making the image a possible satire on the work of the French balloonist, André-Jacques Garnerin, who flew from Lord's Cricket Ground to Enfield on 5th July1802. Lettered with title and original publisher's name and address. |
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| Credit line | Gift from the Ministry of Justice |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Bibliographic reference | The following is an extract from the British Museum's 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires', Vol. VI, 1784-1792', by M.D.George:
'An illustration of an ironical speech by Courtenay on 25 May in the debate on the Proclamation against Seditious Writings. He ridiculed Dundas for his 'accommodating disposition towards Pitt, comparing him with 'an officer who paraded the streets of Edinburgh at night with a large cloak, vociferating at the corner of every alley, "Wha Wants Me".' A ballad founded on this speech was sung for months in Edinburgh, beginning:
John Bull is a canker'd carle: he'll nae twin wi' his gear;
And Sawney now is ten times waur, gin a' be true I hear;
But let them say, or let them do, it's a ane to me;
I'll never lay aside my cloak - my wha wants me?
O wha wants me, sirs? Wha wants me?
I'll take my stand near Downing Street, with aye- Wha wants me?'. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.685:14-2014 |
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| Record created | October 24, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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