print;
popular print;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1993,0404.5
- Title
- Object: The Unrelenting Creditor
- Description
-
Satirical print: Robert Waithman outside the debtors' prison in White Cross Street holds up a bill to two inmates; he exclaims: "Lie there and rot, till thou hast paid me the utmost farthing", one of the debtors pleads: "Wait man, I'll pay thee all". 1831
Woodcut
- Production date
- 1831
- Dimensions
-
Height: 495 millimetres
-
Width: 768 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The print and its pair, 1993-4-4-6, were issued during the campaign for the election of City Chamberlain in January 1831 which the Radical Alderman and M.P. Robert Waithman (1764-1833) lost to Sir James Shaw. The election was bitterly fought (see The Times, 15 January - 3 February 1831, and BM Sat 16561). The reference in this print is to the case of Waithman & Co. versus Birch, 1816, when Waithman and his son unsuccessfully contested the discharge of an insolvent debtor who owed them 3,800 pounds. The case was the subject of two pamphlets issued by Waithman's opponents.
The use of a woodcut technique derived from popular prints was a feature of political satire at this period. The later inscription linking the print to William Hone was probably made on grounds of style but is unlikely in view of Hone's radical politics and his friendship with Waithman.
Pair with 1993,0404.6
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2000 Oct-Dec, Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, Popular Print in England
2001 Feb-Apr, Glasgow, Hunterian AG, Popular Print in England
2001 Apr-June, Manchester, Whitworth AG, Popular Print in England
2001 June-Aug, Bradford, Cartwright Hall, Popular Print in England
- Associated events
- Associated Event: Great Reform Bill 1832
- Acquisition date
- 1993
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1993,0404.5
