print;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1868,0808.6646
- Title
- Object: The Inexhaustible Mine!
- Description
-
John Bull, hugely corpulent, stands in profile to the left, his arms tied behind him, while ropes of guineas are dragged from him to fall in heaps. He is in his shirt-sleeves, his breeches fall round his knees. He looks up, his face contorted with pain, shouting, "Oh, my head. Oh my A------e Thieves! Pickpockets! Oh Lord! Oh Lord!" His figure covers the greater part of the design; his tormentors are on the extreme left and right, partly cut off by the margins. Dundas (left) pulls a string from his mouth, saying, "Mum Johnny No squeaking!" The Queen crouches below Dundas, her hand under John's shirt, saying, "I wonder if he has any Jewels or Precious Stones." A pair of hands (right) pulls a rope of coins from John's ear; the words indicate the King: "What! what does he cry Billy why we take every opportunity to Ease him." Pitt kneels on one knee beneath the hands, pulling a rope of coins from John's posteriors, saying, "Ay Johnny we take every opportunity to Ease him!!! no squeaking Johnny!" 22 June 1797
Hand-coloured etching
- Production date
- 1797
- Dimensions
-
Height: 350 millimetres
-
Width: 240 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VII, 1942)
For the flourishing state of trade see G. Rose, 'A brief Examination into the Increase of the Revenue, Commerce, and Manufactures . . . from 1792 to 1799', 1799. For the Queen and jewels cf. BMSat 6978, &c. BMSats 8654, 8998, 9400, are similar themes (Pitt and Dundas, encouraged by George III, exploit John Bull). Cf. BMSats 9030, 9047.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.6646
