1811 (?). _Quaix de Paris._ ditto.
1811 (?). _A Country Club._
1811 (?). _Recruits._ (See 1803.)
1811 (?). _Morning, or the Man of Taste._ After H. Bunbury.
1811 (?). _Evening, or the Man of Feeling._ ditto.
1811 (?). _Conversazione._
_October 11, 1811._ _Six Classes of that Noble and Intelligent
Animal--a Horse._
The Race Horse.
The Shooting Pony.
The Gig Horse.
The War Horse.
The Hunter.
The Draught Horse.
_October 10, 1811._ _Distillers looking into their own business._
Published by T. Tegg.--The principal objects in the print are a still
and a cask of double-rectified spirits, into which three members of the
firm are involuntarily infusing foreign elements.
_October, 1811._ _Dinners Dressed in the neatest manner._ Published
by T. Tegg (112).--The preparations of the cook in question are not
calculated to increase the appetite of the observant epicure; the
_chef_ is hideous, old, rheumy, slovenly, and diseased; he is kneading
the paste with his objectionable hands, his snuffbox is on the board
by his side; while a blowsy and uncombed slattern is reaching down a
pie-dish, in which the rats have been revelling; the bold depredators
are scampering off no farther than the next dish. (Companion to
_Distillers looking into their own business_.)
_October 25, 1811._ _A Trip to Gretna Green._ Designed and published
by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.--The scene of the situation
is the green at Gretna, before the shed of _Tim Tag, 'Blacksmith and
Rector.'_ The worthy is in his clerical character, decently clad in
professional sables; and, with spectacles on nose, he is reading the
service, in a somewhat extemporary fashion, over a fugitive couple, in
the open air. A dashing captain, dressed in his regimentals, as was
then the everyday fashion in the King's service, is placing a ring
on the finger of a comely maiden of tender years, who is smiling and
blushing. The postilion who has driven the runaway pair to this stolen
match is standing, cap in hand, grinning at the ceremonial. While the
blacksmith is rivetting the fetters of Hymen in his clerical character,
his professional helpers are looking to the shoes of the horses which
are to bear the newly-married couple across the Border.
_October 25, 1811._ _Rural Sports. Balloon Hunting._ Published by
T. Tegg (157).--The balloon is drifting before the wind beyond the
control of the aeronaut; a fair voyager is making a terrific descent
with a parachute in the midst of a flock of birds; from the top of a
tall tower a gentleman is taking deliberate aim at the flying machine,
probably with a view to bring it down by blowing a hole through the
body of the balloon. In the foreground is shown the mishap of the
balloon-hunters; a stout old gentleman is endeavouring to drag his
vehicle up hill; his horse is shying and kicking; a dog is barking at
the animal's head, the shafts are snapped, and the trap is kicked over;
three fair riders are thrown out in picturesque confusion on the turf,
and scattered with bottles and a bundle.
_November 25, 1811._ _English Manner and French Prudence; or French
Dragoons brought to a check by a Belvoir Leap. A Scene after Nature
near Cuidad Rodrigo. September 1811._ Published by H. Humphrey, St.
James's Street.--'Lord Charles Manners was a famous horseman, and
unexpectedly one day came upon a French cavalry picket, who gave chase
until a brook was reached, which Lord Charles immediately cleared,
making a salute, and bidding the Frenchmen (who were so surprised as
not to fire until too late), '_Adieu, messieurs!_' A paragraph from
one of the London papers of the day makes the foregoing record of
the exciting incident. This gallant exploit is treated pictorially by
Rowlandson. Lord Charles Manners is taking the brook in an easy stride,
his horse bearing him over 'like a bird,' while his ferocious-looking
pursuers are brought to a full stop at the brink, and as the daring
horseman is bidding farewell to the enemy they are nonplussed with
astonishment at the reckless feat, which they have no ambition to
follow. There is a disappointed knot of French officers, dragoons,
huzzars, &c.; they are all uttering ejaculations of surprise and
cursing the fugitive: _'Sacrebleu!' 'Mais comment, &c.'; 'Quel diable
d'Anglois!' 'Est-il possible?'_
_December 2, 1811._ _A Man of Feeling for the Human Race._ Published by
T. Tegg (126).--Represents the college rooms of a Master of Arts and a
Fellow of decidedly convivial tendencies, whose predilections appear to
be the reverse of ascetic.
_December 9, 1811._ _Bel and the Dragon._ Published by
Stockdale.--Doctor Bell, in wig, gown, cassock, and bands, is standing
calmly before a very terrific pantomimic representation of a dragon.
Before the Doctor--over whose head shines the glorious midday sun,
figuratively set forth--is extended the buckler of _Religion_ held by
the stalwart arm of the _Marsh Clergy of Monarchists_. Dr. Bell is
pointing triumphantly to his school, a dignified pile, founded on a
commanding eminence, marked _Church and State_. Behind 'the Dragon'
is the rival establishment, _Lancaster's School under the Broad-brim
System_, raised on _Deceit and Misrepresentation_. The Dragon's tongue,
labelled _Falsehood_, is pouring forth smoke and flames, and his claws,
_Hypocrisy_, _Vanity_, _Misrepresentation_, and _Calumny_, are extended
to maul the reputation of the opposition champion.
_December 15, 1811._ _A Milk-sop._ Published by T. Tegg (125).--A
pretty milkmaid, with her yoke and cans, is passing the chambers
of a gallant collegian at one of the Universities; the shameless
undergraduate, in cap and gown, has waited his opportunity, and as the
buxom wench is passing his open casement he is leaning out of window,
throwing his arm round her buxom waist, and is indulging in a chaste
salute, which is cordially received. A tutor, or proctor, dodging round
'the quad,' is horrified at the scandalous licence; a sturdy infant is
carried in one of the pails, the other is filled with cream, and offers
a rare opportunity for plunder, of which a passing dog is not slow to
avail himself--raised on his hind legs he is lapping up the welcome
fluid at his leisure.
1811. _Royal Academy, Somerset House, London._ Rowlandson fecit.--The
members, who are studying from the nude, are all well advanced in
years. The seats and drawing-stands of the old Life Academy are
arranged in a horseshoe; the first or inner row of students being
seated, while those who form the outer semicircle are standing at
their easels. An agreeable and graceful-looking female model is posed
beneath the reflectors in an easy attitude which she is preserving with
the assistance of a looped rope slung from the roof.
1811. _The Harmonic Society._ (See October 2, 1810.) Republished.
1811. _Miseries of Travelling. A Hailstorm._ Designed by H. Bunbury,
etched by T. Rowlandson.
1811. _A Tutor and his Pupil, travelling in France, arriving at a
Posting-house._
1811. _The Departure of La Fleur._ Vide _Sterne's 'Sentimental
Journey.'_ Designed by H. Bunbury, etched by T. Rowlandson.
1811 (?). _Exhibition 'Stare' Case, Somerset House._--The staircase
of the handsome buildings erected for Somerset House originally set
apart for the Exhibition of the Royal Academy, is ridiculed as a scene
of unequivocal confusion. Whether the dangers of the somewhat steep
ascent were actually as hazardous as the artist has depicted is open
to question. It will be remembered that Sir William Chambers, the
architect, whose masterpiece was decidedly Somerset House, was a member
of the Royal Academy, and held the office of Treasurer to that body.
It was somewhat the fashion of the wits to laugh at the architect,
who, as a foreigner, had received an amount of royal patronage which
created certain jealousies in the minds of his English rivals, who
were less favoured with the smiles of princes. Chambers' extravagant
conceptions, the various novel designs he published, and particularly
his marked taste for so-called Oriental gardening and the introduction
of buildings after the Chinese fashion, exposed the project to an
ordeal of the severest criticism and sarcasm. George the Third employed
Sir William Chambers to lay out and adorn the Royal gardens at Kew,
when the eminent Swede took advantage of the occasion to carry out the
taste he had acquired in China[24]--an indulgence which subjected the
architect to numerous well-merited satires. The famous 'Heroic Epistle
to Sir William Chambers' was provoked on this occasion.
Peter Pindar, according to his custom, found various faults with the
new pile of buildings in the Strand, and their shortcomings were
pointed out with his habitual archness.
The scene of disaster and tumultuous medley which Rowlandson has
ventured to introduce as attendant incidents of the Royal Academy
staircase must have assisted, in some degree, to make this portion of
the building a laughing-stock with the more frivolous portion of the
frequenters.
[Illustration: EXHIBITION 'STARE' CASE.]
The Editor acknowledges the situation is treated with a licence
which, perhaps, may be held to verge on the inadmissible. It has been
sufficiently difficult, in selecting these illustrations, to keep
within the restrictions marked out by modern decorum, too chaste
to endorse the broad jocularity which passed current half a century
back. The mirth imported into _Somerset House_ is not, however, of a
licentious description; if the subject is treated with more freedom
than is desirable, according to the juster ideas of our generation, at
least its humours are innoxious and, we trust, guiltless of offence.
[Illustration: THE MANAGER'S LAST KICK.]
It is obvious that, in an instance like the present, the task becomes
one of extreme delicacy; it is impossible to translate the caprices
of the artist by any method short of the etching-needle; the mixed
description of the spectacle and the spirit of the _contretemps_ defy
a mere verbal rendering; and the caricature is too excellent in other
respects to be passed over in the present collection, which professes
to give a general view of the artist's cleverest and most familiarly
known examples. While avoiding instances the morality of which is
absolutely questionable, it is evident that it would be impossible
to treat of the actual history, let alone the novels and caricatures
of our forefathers, or to venture on the merest enquiry into their
familiar life, abroad or at home, unless we put prudery a little on one
side.
1811. _The Manager's Last Kick, or a New Way to Pay Old Debts._
Published by T. Tegg (117).--An episode in theatrical management is
made the subject of the present caricature. As is well known, pecuniary
complications were occasionally attendant evils of carrying on
theatrical enterprises, especially some half a century ago. Sheridan's
monetary difficulties were notorious, and although the holders of
writs had recourse to expedients without end to serve the slippery
manager of Drury Lane, it is just to add that 'Sherry's' ingenuity was
frequently equal to the emergency. During a rehearsal at Drury Lane a
Sheriff's officer by some subterfuge gained admittance to the stage,
and presented the manager with his objectionable scrip of parchment.
Sheridan was by no means disconcerted, but made the process-server at
home, asking his advice on various points; and finally, as the story
goes, having thrown the man off his guard, he induced him to mount to
the front of the house to give his opinion on the sounding properties
of the building. 'Can you hear me?' asked Sheridan. 'Perfectly,'
replied the man. 'Then,' said Sheridan, 'you had better lose no time in
coming down again, and catch me if you can, for I'm off!' And before
the disconcerted bailiff could find his way back to the stage his
charge had succeeded in making good his retreat.
In _The Manager's Last Kick, or a New Way to Pay Old Debts_, the same
principle is involved; in this case, however, just as the _red tail_
writ is being served on the manager, a stage trap-door is suddenly let
down, and the objectionable visitor is whisked off the scene. The wily
lessee is bowing his fallen enemy out of sight with mock respect: 'Good
morning, Mr. Catchpole; you'll find more of your tribe when you get to
the bottom!'
_No Date._ (1811?). _Preparing to Start._ Published by T. Tegg
(118).--There are jockeys within the ropes; the course is being
cleared. The view is taken from the paddock opposite the grand stand.
There are booths and tents for the sale of _real Stingo_, and horses
are picketed on a hillside in the distance.
[Illustration: PREPARING TO START.]
_No Date._ (1811?). _Preparing for the Race._ Published by T. Tegg.
[Illustration: PREPARING FOR THE RACE.]
1811 (?). _Awkward Squads Studying the Graces._ Published by T. Tegg
(87). Woodward del., Rowlandson sculp.--Six stages, displaying the
difficulties encountered by a French dancing master in labouring to
instruct unconquerably clumsy and elderly pupils, who obviously possess
no sort of aptitude for movement or grace.
1811. _Hiring a Servant._ Published by T. Tegg (124).--An elderly
couple in a genteel station of life are seated at the breakfast-table;
to them enters a simple country maiden, with a pretty and innocent
face, her arms modestly folded, as an applicant for a place. 'What
situation in my family would you wish to undertake, young woman?'
enquires the lady of the house. 'Ma'am,' replies the unsophisticated
maiden, 'I should like to be under your man-cook by way of
improvement.' This _naïf_ remark is misconstrued, to the manifest
delight of the fat _chef_, who is rolling about and rubbing his round
sides with amusement.
1811 (?). _Anglers of 1611._ Designed by H. Bunbury, and etched by
T. Rowlandson.--A pretty group, founded on the piscatorial pastoral
of Izaak Walton. Venator is seated with his arm round the waist of the
pretty milkmaid. Maudlin, her mother, a quaint old dame, is discoursing
wisdom. Piscator is, with folded arms, leaning on his fishing-rod; at
his feet are two fine trout. Peter is whipping a stream in the rear.
The scenery is pretty, and the figures are neatly and expressively
filled in. The design, which is by Bunbury, it is easy to recognise has
gained considerable force from the spirited execution his contemporary
has brought to bear on the etching. Companion to _Anglers of 1811_.
1811. _Anglers of 1811._ Designed by H. Bunbury, etched by T.
Rowlandson.
1811. _Patience in a Punt._ Designed by H. Bunbury, etched by T.
Rowlandson.
1811 (?). _A Templar at his Studies._ Published by T. Tegg.--The
chambers of a fast member of the Bar; breakfast is on the table, and
the apartment is in a litter of bottles, hunting-boots, guns, whips,
law-books, briefs, papers, and general disorder. The student has
evidently been to a masquerade overnight; portions of the dress of a
Grand Turk are scattered about; moreover a lady is in his chambers,
who is performing her toilette at a gilt mirror standing on his
breakfast-table. The Templar, semi-clad, is sleepily trying to look
through a bundle of briefs and law papers.
1811. _A Family Piece. (The Portrait Painter.)_ Designed by H. Bunbury,
engraved by T. Rowlandson.
1811. _A Barber's Shop._ H. Bunbury del., Rowlandson sculp.--Two
customers, already polished off, are putting on their cravats at the
glass, and a stout old gentleman is in a shaving-chair having his
hair dressed. A brace of dogs are quarrelling over a wig, which they
are worrying like a rat and pulling different ways. A client is being
lathered and is under operation, while a gentleman, who has been
shaved, is wiping off the remains of the soapsuds. This design, one of
the latest due to the hand of the gifted Henry Bunbury,[25] was also
engraved on a larger scale by James Gillray: it was the last plate upon
which he was able to work, and it proceeded but slowly, being touched
in rare lucid intervals as his increasing madness permitted.
The etching, as executed by Gillray, bears the date 1811 in one corner,
and to this is added the date of its deferred publication, May 15,
1818. The title given on the folio engraving is _Interior of a Barber's
Shop in Assize Time_. The great caricaturist carried this plate, _the
last work on copper by the hand of Gillray_, as notified upon the
print, so far as his intermittent returns of reason would allow him.
As Gillray died June 1, 1815, when the plate was evidently unfinished,
this is probably one of the caricaturist's coppers which, as we have
already related, were handed to George Cruikshank, another departed
worthy, to complete. The unexpected death of the veteran has prevented
the writer verifying this circumstance, although it is probably one of
the plates--probably the most important as to size--which Cruikshank
held in recollection when he informed the writer he considered that
the most flattering testimonial which had been paid him in his long
life was being selected, while a young man, to complete the engravings
Gillray had left unfinished under the painful circumstances of his
mental aberration, as already detailed. (See _The Works of James
Gillray, the Caricaturist, with the Story of his Life and Times_, page
19, Introduction; and, further, the reduced engraving, from this plate
(1811), page 370, the _Works_).
1811 (?). _Modern Antiques._--The cabinet of an antiquarian, richly
filled with supposititious relics of the past. On a shelf is a row
of Etruscan vases; bacchic masks and terminal gods are ranged on the
walls; the chief features of the collection are a gathering of Egyptian
deities and some magnificent sarcophagi. The satire, in some degree,
seems to hint at Sir William Hamilton (then deceased) and the fair Emma.
An old antiquary, decrepit and bent, is peering at the shapely
proportions of an Egyptian figure bearing a close resemblance to life.
The chief incident of the picture is centred in a mummy's coffin,
tenanted for the time, like a sentry-box, by a gallant young officer,
who is embraced, behind the lid of his temporary resting-place, by a
lady, who, like all the beauties designed by the artist, is represented
of fine proportions and somewhat free graces. The _inamorata_ has
thrown down a work which she has evidently studied to some purpose,
_Loves of the Gods--embellished with cuts_, and she is taking the
opportunity to make a practical application of her readings.
1811. _Munchausen at Walcheren._ Plates by Rowlandson.
1811. _Chesterfield Burlesqued._ Published by T. Tegg. 12mo. (See
_Chesterfield Travestie_, 1808.)
FOOTNOTES:
[23] It was here, in this same Westminster pit, that the celebrated
dog _Billy_ distinguished himself, and carried off the laurels of
vermin-killing, by despatching a hundred rats at a time.
[24] In his early career Chambers had visited China. He performed the
voyage as supercargo of some Swedish ships trading there.
[25] Bunbury died at Keswick, May 7, 1811, aged 61.
1812.
_January 10, 1812._ _A Portrait: Duke of Cumberland._ Published by H.
Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.--The Duke, with his spyglass, dressed
in a blue coat with red facings (Windsor uniform); in the background is
shown Kew Gardens, with the Pagoda House. The drawing from which this
print was etched is entitled _Blood Royal_.
_January 10, 1812._ _A Portrait: Lord Petersham._ Published by H.
Humphrey, 27 St James's Street.--St. James's Palace at the back of the
subject.
_January 10, 1812._ _Wet under Foot._ Designed by an amateur. Published
by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.--This small sketch represents a
pouring wet day; a lady on pattens, holding an umbrella over her head,
is endeavouring to pass the gutter without injury to her stockings. The
point of view is supposed to be taken from the junction of Petticoat
Lane with Smock Alley. Scavengers are shovelling mud into their carts;
and the general downpour is further aggravated by denizens of the
upper floors, who are discharging vessels over the soaked and dripping
passengers below.
_February 26, 1812._ _A Portrait: Lord Pomfret._ Published by H.
Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.
_February 28, 1812._ _Plucking a Spooney._--A promising young
'spooney,' according to the artist's view, is entering on life's
dangers--represented pictorially in three subjects which are hanging
over the head of the victim: 'the fair sex--drinking--and gaming,'
being the evils set down to avoid. The novice is evidently well
advanced on the downward route, and has fallen among experienced
professors of the plucking process. A gaily-dressed lady by his side,
a 'decoy duck,' of captivating exterior, is beguiling the senses of
the self-satisfied dupe with various familiarities; while a smug stout
person, dressed like a parson, is discreetly keeping up the spirit of
the affair by filling the glasses and manufacturing fresh supplies of
punch, which the 'spooney' is imbibing freely and without regard to
the consequences. A pile of gold and notes has been laid on the table
by this very innocent pigeon, and opposite to him sits the crafty and
accomplished 'rook'--a captain, from his 'keeping'--who, by a skilful
manipulation of the cards, assisted by the carelessness of the simple
young _roué_, bids fair to succeed in leaving the pigeon 'without a
feather to fly with;' the plunder to be apportioned amongst the hopeful
triumvirate in whose company the youth has the misfortune to find
himself.
_March 1, 1812._ _Catching an Elephant._ Published by T. Tegg
(146).--Two attractive and winsome damsels, standing outside a portal
labelled 'Warm Baths,' have just succeeded in capturing an elderly
colossus of a man, whose bulk should fairly entitle him to take his
place amongst elephantine monsters; the expression of his senile
features is designed to carry out the resemblance.
_March, 1812._ _Description of a Boxing Match between Ward and Quirk
for 100 Guineas a side._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street,
Adelphi.
_March 2, 1812._ _Spanish Cloak._ Rowlandson del. Published by T. Tegg
(39).--A superior officer, going his midnight rounds of the sentries
posted on a line of fortifications, is amused at discovering the
phenomenon of two pairs of legs below one cloak. A trooper has taken
advantage of his ample garment to smuggle in a fair companion to share
his vigils. The lady seems to enjoy her situation.
_March 20, 1812._ _Fast Day._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James
Street, Adelphi.--Four learned Doctors, dressed in their clerical
vestments, are keeping in their own fashion a day set apart by the
Church for general mortification. The portly four are seated at a
well-furnished board, and trains of servants are, with respectful
attention, bringing in fresh supplies--poultry, dainty meats, and other
delicacies. The well-stocked collegiate cellars have been laid under
contribution; bottles of choice vintage are standing in wine-coolers
and in promising rows on the floor, beside a liberal jorum of punch in
a _Bowl for a Bishop_. The nature of the private meditations of these
epicurean worthies is thus made manifest, while the order of the repast
is further set forth in a lengthy _bill of fare_ irreverently written
on a _New Form of Prayer for the Fast Day_, by way of _menu_. The
walls are suggestively hung with _Lists of the Great Tithes_ and such
congenial paintings as _A Bench of Bishops_, represented regaling at a
roystering banquet, _Susannah and the Elders_, _Brasenose College_, &c.
_March 25, 1812._ _Sea Stores._--A bevy of females consisting of a
negress and other beauties from the purlieus of the port, 'waiting for
Jack,' are sportively accosted by a dapper young midshipman who has
been sent on shore to procure supplies for his ship, which is lying
off. (Companion print to _Land Stores_.)