print; satirical print

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Object Type: print; satirical print
Museum number: 1851,0901.412
Title: Object: The installation-supper, as given at the Pantheon, by the Knights of the Bath on the 26th of May, 1788
Description: A design on four plates, the prints to be pasted together to form a long strip; the imprint is on pl. 1, the title on pl. 2 and pl. 3, the inscription relating to Bunbury, &c, on pl. 4. A fantastic representation of the supper at the ball given by the eleven Knights of the Bath installed on 19 May in Westminster Abbey, see BMSat 7318. Full accounts appeared in the newspapers, and the scene depicted appears intended for 'the Prince of Wales, Duke of York, and a select party of their friends' who 'supped privately in the cotillon room'. 'London Chronicle', 27 May 1788. The guests sit on each side of a long narrow table, scantily provided with food, the bench on the near side of the table showing legs and feet in characteristic attitudes. The design, long as it is, shows only a section of the table, the ends not appearing. [Pl. 1.] On the extreme left, on the near side two elderly and ugly ladies lean ingratiatingly towards Major Topham, the seat of whose breeches is decorated with Prince of Wales's feathers. On the opposite side, on the extreme left, is a couple identified as Sir J. Johnstone and lady. He is very unlike the herculean uncouth figure described by Wraxall, 'Memoirs', 1884, iv. 404. Next (opposite Topham) Lord Bathurst takes wine with Lord Stormont who grasps a decanter of French Wine. Burke, seated next Topham, on whom he turns his back, holds out an empty plate towards Hastings on the opposite side of the table who keeps to himself a whole ham; they regard each other with wary suspicion. On Hastings's left sits Mrs. Hastings, also looking warily at Burke. She is decked with jewels and wears a small crowned turban as a head-dress. Next her is a man wearing a ribbon and star, drinking, who is identified as the Marquis of Buckingham (K.G.). Opposite Mrs. Hastings sits a very fat lady talking to a lean man wearing epaulettes. They are identified as Mrs. Hobart [Whom she does not resemble] (actually Miss Jefferies) and Col. Jekyll. Next Jekyll, Lord Sandwich and an ugly (unidentified) man share the same jelly-glass, holding between them the plate on which it stands. On the extreme right, on the farther end of the table, a man of plebeian appearance drinks from a tankard; he is identified as Dr. Parr. The man between him and Buckingham is identified as the Duke of Portland, whom he does not resemble. [Pl. 2.] On the extreme left the Duke of Grafton turns towards the fat Mrs. Hobart (identified as Miss Jefferies). Opposite him a stout man drinking from a jelly-glass has been identified as Lord Nugent (whom he does not resemble). Next him Cornwallis, wearing ear-rings, puts his arm round the shoulder of a lady, identified as Lady Clive, who looks languishingly at him as she takes a (?) peach. Next her is Lord North. Opposite him is a man identified as Sir George Shuckburgh [He is unlike the Shuckburgh of Gillray's 'French Habits' (1798)] who takes his neighbour by the arm offering her a glass of wine; she demurs deprecatingly. On the farther side of the table, with no one seated opposite him, is the Prince of Wales, a fork held to his mouth (as in BMSat 8111), sitting impassively between Lady Archer and Lady Cecilia Johnston, two bedizened harridans, who ogle him, putting their hands on his shoulders. Next Lady Cecilia (right) is Mrs. Fitzherbert, ogling Wilkes, who sits next her, squinting and leering. On the near side of the table is a man in back view wearing a ribbon and (right) Lord Carlisle talking to Lord Heathfield who sits behind a sirloin of beef. Opposite him and on the extreme right is a pretty young lady identified as Miss Bingham. [Pl. 3.] On the extreme left, on the near side of the table, a middle-aged couple, holding knives and forks, turn to each other with animated smiles. Opposite them sits a good-looking young man wearing a ribbon and star (perhaps Lord Mornington). On his left the Duke of Richmond turns with an expression of pained surprise to Lord Rawdon. Opposite this pair two stout men turn to each other, both drinking. The central group of this plate, a pendant to that of the Prince of Wales on pl. 2, is the Duke of York sitting between two pretty young women, his right arm is round the shoulder of one, probably Lady Tyrconnel, the other holds his left arm and shoulder; both look languishingly at him. On the near side of the table are two more couples: Lord Amherst (caricatured) puts an arm round the waist of a lean and ugly old woman wearing the fashionable false 'derrière' in an exaggerated form. On the extreme right Lord Derby, his hand on his breast, drinks wine with the witch-like Lady Mount Edgcumbe. On the farther side of the table are two unidentified men, one of whom drinks from his plate; next him is a pretty young woman. On the extreme right Dundas turns to speak to his left-hand neighbour; he grasps a decanter and glass, spilling his wine. [Pl. 4.] On the farther side of the table Philip Francis turns to speak to Dundas. Opposite him, and on the extreme left, a stout lady, identified as Lady Salisbury (see BMSat 6115), sits in back view, her petticoats enormously inflated behind. She speaks to no one: Pitt, her right hand neighbour, leans behind the back of the Speaker (alternatively identified as Thurlow) to touch glasses with Fox, who smiles amiably, holding a decanter in his right hand. Cornwall bends avidly over his plate; he wears his Speaker's wig, the mace lies across his knees. Four figures sit opposite this group: the ugly Pepper Arden who gazes admiringly at a pretty young woman on his left; she appears displeased at her position between Arden and a fat woman who puts both knife and fork to her mouth. Next the latter is Lord Lansdowne, who seizes affectionately the hand of Lord Sydney who turns towards him with a smile; they drink to each other. Next Fox on the near side of the table a plain and elderly couple drink to each other; both are thin. They are identified as Lady Powlett and Sir H. Powlett. Opposite them, and, like the lady on his left, intent on his plate, is a military officer identified as General Bligh. His neighbour is old and haggard, her hair elaborately dressed. Next her and on the extreme right two men carouse together, both wear stars; one is identified as the Duke of Bedford, the other (right) as the Duke of Norfolk (neither had an order). Opposite, a man wearing a ribbon pours out wine for an elderly and ugly lady who receives the attention with a gesture of satisfaction. They are identified as Sir George and Lady Yonge. He is identical with the ass whose profile is shown on the extreme right in BMSat 7318, who can hardly be Yonge who appears elsewhere in that print. 4 June 1788 Hand-coloured etching.
Producer name: Print made by: James Gillray; Published by: S W Fores
School/style
Production date: 1788
Production place: Published in: London (England)
Materials
Technique: etching; hand-coloured
Dimensions: Height: 1356 millimetres; Width: 265 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: (Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VI, 1938) The supper was not magnificent: Weltje refused to provide it on the ground that for the proposed sum he could give sandwiches only. 'Auckland Correspondence', ii. 210-n. See also Sir G. Elliot, 'Life and Letters', i. 203. According to the 'London Chronicle' the 'grandeur and elegance . . . surpassed our power of description'. The supper 'was fixed at 1000 guineas'. 9 1/4 x 20 1/4 + 20 3/4 + 20 7/8 in. (plates). Grego, 'Gillray', pp. 101-2. (Supplementary information) This is the entire satire frieze joined together. Individual sheets (some not coloured) are also in the BM collection.
Bibliographic references
Location: Not on display
Subjects
Associated names: Associated with: Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst; Associated with: Lady Sarah Archer; Associated with: Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron of Alvanley; Associated with: Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst; Associated with: Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford; Associated with: Lady Anne Bingham; Associated with: George Nugent Temple Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham; Associated with: Edmund Burke; Associated with: Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle; Associated with: Lady Henrietta Clive, Countess Powis; Associated with: Charles Wolfran Cornwall; Associated with: Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess Cornwallis; Associated with: Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby; Associated with: Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville; Associated with: Maria Anne Fitzherbert; Associated with: Charles James Fox; Associated with: Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany and Bishop of Osnabrück; Associated with: Sir Philip Francis; Associated with: George IV, King of the United Kingdom; Associated with: Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton; Associated with: Marian Hastings; Associated with: Warren Hastings; Associated with: George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield; Associated with: Albinia Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire; Associated with: Elizabeth Jefferyes; Associated with: Joseph Jekyll; Associated with: Lady Cecelia Johnston; Associated with: Sir James Johnstone; Associated with: William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne; Associated with: Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley; Associated with: Emma, Countess of Mount-Edgcumbe; Associated with: Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk; Associated with: Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford; Associated with: Robert Nugent, Earl Nugent; Associated with: Rev Samuel Parr; Associated with: William Pitt the Younger; Associated with: William, 3rd Duke of Portland; Associated with: Francis Rawdon Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings and 2nd Earl of Moira; Associated with: Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox; Associated with: John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett (?); Associated with: Mary Amelia Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury; Associated with: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich; Associated with: Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh Evelyn, 6th Baronet; Associated with: David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield; Associated with: Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney; Associated with: Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow; Associated with: Edward Topham; Associated with: Sarah Hussey, Countess of Tyrconnel; Associated with: John Wilkes; Associated with: Elizabeth Cleeve; Associated with: Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1851
Department: Prints and Drawings
Registration number: 1851,0901.412

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