print; satirical print

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Object Type: print; satirical print
Museum number: 1868,0808.4121
Title: Object: The French king in a sweat or the Paris coiners 1759
Description: Satire on the French king and his nobles melting valuables to make coin to pay war expenses in reaction to the disasters of the year 1759. Louis XV stands on the left holding a broken sceptre that he prepares to add to the crucible; Marshal Belle-Isle crouches on the right cutting up a candlestick; Madame de Pompadour works the bellows. Items of plate lie on the floor, including a vase lettered, "Germain fec" and a box lettered, "Messonier Inv"; on the wall hang portraits of W[illiam] P[itt], lettered "Terror of France", into which a sword is stuck, Newcastle and Fox, the latter two covered by a large cobweb. 1759 Etching
Producer name: Print made by: Matthias Darly
School/style: British
Production date: 1759
Materials: paper
Technique: etching
Dimensions: Height: 195 millimetres; Width: 341 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Bibliographic references: BM Satires / Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (3691)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: 2002/3 Oct-Jan, London, National Gallery, Madame de Pompadour ...
Subjects: satire
Associated names: Representation of: Louis XV, King of France and Navarre; Representation of: Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Duc de Belle-Isle; Representation of: Madame de Pompadour; Representation of: William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham; Representation of: Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle; Representation of: Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland; Representation of: Thomas Germain; Representation of: Juste Aurèle Meissonnier
Associated events: Associated Event: British Victories 1759
Acquisition name: Purchased from: Edward Hawkins (estate of)
Acquisition date: 1868
Department: Prints and Drawings
Registration number: 1868,0808.4121

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