- Museum number
- 1868,0808.6922
- Title
- Object: The Union Club
- Description
-
A drunken debauch in the new Union Club, see BMSat 9698. A long table, the cloth removed, one end cut off by the left margin, stretches almost across the design, slanting back slightly from the left, where it is in the foreground, and where Fox, grossly corpulent, sits in an armchair asleep, his feet on the table, a pipe in one hand. Nearly opposite his feet is the chair of state, on the table; on the empty seat is the Prince's cocked hat with triple plume, his motto 'Ich Di[en]' within the crown. The chair is backed by an elaborate architectural canopy with ornate pilasters on which swags of fruit and flowers are carved in relief: (left) grapes and lemons (materials for punch), and (right) roses and shamrocks. Above the seat are figures of Britannia and Erin, kissing, standing on a curved base inscribed 'The Union'. On the back of the chair are two clasped hands, elaborately irradiated. The chair is surrounded by broken wine-bottles; its former occupant, the Prince, lies on his back under the table, one arm flung over Lord Stanhope, who lies unconscious, clasping a bottle. On the Prince's stomach rest two feet in shoes with spiked, upcurved toes. In the foreground, opposite the Prince, Norfolk lies with his head against the seat of his overturned chair, looking very ill. All who are not incapacitated or fighting are toasting the Union (except Lansdowne and Parr, see below). On the table sits Moira, dressed as in BMSat 9386, a glass of wine held high above his head, his right leg thrust forward, while he stretches back to take the hand of Lord Clermont, [This is clear from the resemblance to BMSat 9575, and is supported by the shamrock which he and the other Irishmen wear. It is confirmed by 'London und Paris', vii. 80, where it is said that he and Moira were once bitter enemies. He is identified by Grego as General Manners, see BMSat 9288.] seated next Sheridan on the farther side of the table. Facing Clermont and in back view, Camelford sits erect, wearing a Jean de Bry coat (see BMSat 9425) and small round hat, with cropped hair. [The identification (that of Grego) is confirmed by BMSat 9716, Wright and Evans give Burdett, E. Hawkins 'Mr Manners'.] Beside him (right) two waiters bring in a full tub of Whiskey Punch, which they spill; one treads on the face of the prostrate Nicholls. Near the end of the table (right) sits Derby, his large head and crumpled features grotesquely caricatured. In the foreground on the extreme right Montagu Mathew (as in BMSat 9560) and Skeffington (as in BMSat 9557) advance dancing arm-in-arm, with tipsy grace, the former with a bottle in each hand; one reversed, the other, held above his head, splashes its contents over his partner's uplifted glass. (The pair, according to 'London und Paris', vii, 1801, p. 76, were known as inseparables in fashionable London resorts, cf. BMSat 9755.)
On the farther side of the table, on the extreme left, Bedford sleeps against the side of the chair of state, on which Tierney leans, vomiting. Behind Tierney, and in shadow, are the sharp profile and high cocked hat of Walpole (see BMSat 9376). Seated at the table are the following left to right): Erskine leans asleep against the chair; he has a little covered pot of spirits. Sheridan, a Silenus, raises a bottle and holds his glass. Next him is Clermont (mentioned above). Lansdowne and Dr. Parr sit together, both with pipes; the latter's right hand rests on the former's shoulder. Lansdowne smiles inscrutably; he uses a cross attached to a rosary (symbol of 'Malagrida' the Jesuit, cf. BMSat 8069, and of the materialist, cf. BMSat 5644) as a tobacco stopper; before him is his friend's tobacco box inscribed 'Belendenus' [see BMSats 7185, 9533] his box. Parr holds a frothing tankard inscribed 'Union', and puffs a blast of smoke towards Queensberry (right), who sips his wine with a leer.
Behind Erskine, General Davies the caricaturist (see BMSat 9442), in profile to the left, pulls the nose of (?) Sir Jonah Barrington [The identification by Wright and Evans seems to apply to this figure.] and raises a horsewhip to strike; the other brandishes a bottle and prepares to claw Davies's face. Behind Clermont stands the tall Lord Cholmondeley (see BMSat 5911), arms raised, hat in one hand, glass in the other. Near him and behind Sheridan are the head and shoulders of the ugly and deformed Lord Kirkcudbright (see BMSat 9905), peering through an eye-glass. Behind Lansdowne, Parr, and Queensberry, George Hanger (with a black eye) threatens with clenched fist Sturt (with bleeding nose, but impassive) and Tyrwhitt Jones (see BMSat 9401), who registers alarm. This corpulent pair seem to be waltzing (cf. BMSat 9583) together. Hanger, Sturt, and Jones wear voluminous shirts over their coats, Start's is checked, like that of a sailor, indicating according to 'London und Paris' (vii. 84) his fondness for the sea.
In the background, crowded with figures, is wild confusion, with a free fight in progress: a military officer raises a chair to smite; poker, brush, tongs, a stool, bottles, glasses, &c, are weapons or missiles. A lighted chandelier is being broken. In a musician's gallery (right) five men, in Windsor uniform, impassively play 'God save the King' on wind instruments. There is an ornate Wall clock (left) with carved figures of Bacchus and Time clasping hands, the latter holding up a goblet and trampling on his hour-glass; the dial is engraved 'W. Pitt, 1801' [maker of the Union], the hands point to 2.50. In the foreground and smirched with wine lies Cobbett's (patriotic) newspaper: 'The Porcupine \ Fear God Honor the King'. The first column is headed 'Benefits of the Union'. (Cf. BMSat 11378.) Broken bottles, glasses, pipes, and other signs of debauch lie on the floor. Shamrock is worn in the hats of Irishmen: Moira, Clermont, Mathew, Davies, Hanger, and two military officers. Beneath the design is engraved the toast to the Union, as in BMSat 9698, but with quotation marks. 21 January 1801
Hand-coloured etching
- Production date
- 1801
- Dimensions
-
Height: 296 millimetres
-
Width: 438 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VIII, 1947)
The Opposition, whose chief members are depicted, had strongly opposed the Union, though Fox's opposition had been in the Whig Club and in Private, not in Parliament (cf. BMSat 9434). Stanhope had published a pamphlet 'On the Subject of the Union', 1799, reprinted by the anti-Union party in Dublin. The drunken torpor or conviviality of the foreground figures is contrasted with the frenzied fighting of those in the background. The anomalies of the Union (see BMSat 9695, &c.) are perhaps symbolized in the clock. The loyal occasion (the Queen's birthday) is indicated by the musicians.
'The New Union', by G. Cruikshank, 19 July 1819 (Reid, 898) is based on this print.
Grego, 'Gillray', pp. 272-3 (reproduction). Wright and Evans, No. 257. Reprinted, 'G.W.G.', 1830. Reproduced, Klingender, 'Hogarth and English Caricature', 1944, p. 9.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1996 Sep-Nov, York, Fairfax House, 'Come Drink the Bowl Dry'
2001/2 Jun-Jan, Belfast, Ulster Museum, Act of Union Bicentenary Exhibition
- Associated names
-
Associated with: Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford
-
Associated with: Sir Jonah Barrington
-
Associated with: Thomas Pitt Camelford, 2nd Baron Camelford
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Associated with: George James Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley
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Associated with: William Henry Fortescue, Earl of Clermont
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Associated with: Thomas Davies
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Associated with: Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby
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Associated with: Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine
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Associated with: Charles James Fox
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Associated with: George III, King of the United Kingdom
-
Associated with: George VI, King of the United Kingdom
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Associated with: George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine
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Associated with: Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones
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Associated with: Sholto Henry Maclellan, 9th Lord Kirkcudbright
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Associated with: William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne
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Associated with: Hon Montague Mathew
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Associated with: Francis Rawdon Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings and 2nd Earl of Moira
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Associated with: John Nicholls
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Associated with: Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk
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Associated with: Rev Samuel Parr
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Associated with: William Pitt the Younger
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Associated with: William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry
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Associated with: Richard Brinsley Sheridan
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Associated with: Hon Lumley St George Skeffington
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Associated with: Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
-
Associated with: Charles Sturt of Crichel
-
Associated with: George Tierney
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.6922
