print; satirical print

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Object Type: print; satirical print
Museum number: 1851,0901.234
Title: Object: The state of the nation
Description: Fourteen single figures, in two rows one above the other, each seated in a little compartment representing a latrine. The upper row are all men, the lower all women. All wear hats. Almost all are in attitudes expressive of alarm, discomfort, or resignation. Names are written beneath each in an old hand, showing that all are in fact caricatures of men. They are (left to right.): upper row - "Ld B"' [Barrington ?] his face concealed by his hat; "Ld M." [Mansfield] with the face of an aged man; "L. N." [Lord North] scarcely recognizable; "L. G. G." [Lord George Germain]; "Mr. Rigby"; "Ld S." [Sandwich?], his head concealed by his hat. "Ld Land", turning up his eyes sanctimoniously [Shelburne ?]. The lower row of women: "Col Bare" [Barré], his head almost concealed by his hat; "Mr Sawb." [Sawbridge], the City patriot, his head leaning on his hand with a very melancholy expression; "Ld Car." [Carlisle?], a young woman of pleasing appearance, with an untroubled expression; "S. F. N." [Sir Fletcher Norton]; "Mr W." [Wilkes], recognizable by his squint; "D. R." [Duke of Richmond?]; "Mr. Johnson", with a certain resemblance to Dr. Johnson. 24 June 1778 Mezzotint
Producer name: Print made by: Anonymous
School/style: British
Production date: 1778
Materials: paper
Technique: etching; mezzotint
Dimensions: Height: 241 millimetres; Width: 343 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: (Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', V, 1935) General attacks on the Government were made by moving for a committee on the State of the Nation; see motions by Fox and the Duke of Richmond (accepted by North) 2 Dec. 1777, followed by debates in committee, 2, 11, 16, 19 Feb. 1778. Chatham's last speech 7 Apr. 1778 was in a debate on the Duke of Richmond's motion for an address to the king upon the State of the Nation. 'Parl. Hist.' xix, pp. 472 ff., 513 ff., 672 ff., 718 ff., 745 ff., 1012 ff. There are other versions of this design, see BMSat 5480, 5481; it appears on the wall in BMSat 5633 and also in a pen drawing by Rowlandson, 'The School of Eloquence', in the collection of Mr. Oppé, exhibited Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1931-2 [what may be another version of the drawing is in the Royal Collection, RCIN 913719]. It is mentioned in BMSat 6199.
Bibliographic references: BM Satires / Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (5479); Chaloner Smith 1883 / British Mezzotinto portraits from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century (undescribed)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: satire
Associated names: Representation of: William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington; Representation of: Isaac Barré; Representation of: Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle; Representation of: George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville; Representation of: Dr Samuel Johnson; Representation of: William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield; Representation of: Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford; Representation of: Fletcher Norton, Baron Grantley; Representation of: Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox; Representation of: Richard Rigby; Representation of: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich; Representation of: John Sawbridge; Representation of: John Wilkes; Associated with: William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne
Acquisition name: Donated by: William Smith, the printseller
Acquisition date: 1851
Department: Prints and Drawings
Registration number: 1851,0901.234

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