- Museum number
- 1868,0612.1300
- Title
- Object: King Gourmand XVIII and Prince Posterior in fright!!!
- Description
-
Louis XVIII (left), interrupted at a meal (cf. BM Satires 13502), stands, legs astride, gaping in terror at three little cloud-borne scenes in the upper right part of the design. He faces his nephew, the duc d'Angoulême, who is propelled forward by bayonets projecting into the design from the right margin. The latter puts a hand to his much projecting posterior inscribed Elba and drops his sword, exclaiming, Treachery! Treachery! the National Guard will not obey our Orders, they are all for Liberty this reminds me of my Latter End, au Diable! He is one of I. R. C's grotesque dandies (cf. BM Satires 13063), and his hair stands on end. The King has a napkin round his neck, holds a knife and has dropped a fork; he points with his left hand towards the petrifying visions, declaiming: What have we to fear? we have one hundred thousand Frenchmen, commanded by a Prince of my Family—by him whom my heart delighted to call my Son, are [sic] ready to [revolt, scored through] march;—. He wears spurred jack-boots, slashed for gouty feet, a quasi-military tunic, and a white waistcoat patterned with fleur-de-lis; a fleur-de-lis dangles from a ribbon against his paunch. His crown is winged and flies from his head, saying, This Mans Head is too Thick for me—it's a bad Fit, so I shall be off to another and a better Nob than this [see BM Satires 14502].
The visions (left to right) are [1] a guillotine topped by a bonnet rouge; an executioner, knife in hand, stands beside it (right) pointing to the basket, saying,, Look at this and Tremble; on the other side is Death, a skeleton, who points his javelin at Louis XVIII, extending his left arm to the guillotine; he says: You are wanted and must come. [2] One soldier presents another with a sword, two others wave their bearskins; facing them is a crowd of cheering civilians. This is: The National Guard, & Citizens presenting a Sword of honour to Sergeant Mercier. [3] Two soldiers, backed by others, seize a deputy by the collar; behind, other soldiers with fixed bayonets, and deputies on benches are indicated: Expelling M. Manuel from the Chamber of Deputies. In the room below is the table, much as in BM Satires 12997, from which the King has risen, with pie, decanters, &c. On the floor are bottles in a wine-cooler, and under the King's chair are empty bottles. At his feet is a paper headed Bill of Fare. At the duke's feet: The Dunghill Cock An old French Song. 14 March 1823
Hand-coloured etching
- Production date
- 1823
- Dimensions
-
Height: 255 millimetres
-
Width: 360 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', X, 1952)
The refusal of the National Guard to drag Manuel from the Chamber, and the popular applause for Mercier, see No. 14510, are represented as the beginning of a revolution fatal to the dynasty. Louis XVIII's famous speech is again parodied, cf. No. 14511. Actually, the triumphal march through Spain gave satisfaction in France: 'The duke of Angoulême was metamorphosed into a hero, and loaded with eulogies which would have been extravagant, even if applied to Turenne or Napoleon.' Ann. Reg., 1823, p. 164. See De Vinck, Nos. 10888-908.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0612.1300