The pigs possessed - or - the Broadbottom'd litter running headlong into ye sea of perdition

The pigs possessed - or - the Broadbottom'd litter running headlong into ye sea of perdition

Item Information

Title:
The pigs possessed - or - the Broadbottom'd litter running headlong into ye sea of perdition
Title (alt.):
The pigs possessed. Or, the Broadbottom'd litter running headlong into ye sea of perdition
Description:
George III, as a farmer in a smock, drives his pigs, now very plump, out of his farmyard and down a cliff into a turbulent sea. They have burst through a rotten paling; the foremost are struggling in huge waves, the last, the reluctant Sheridan, is propelled by the farmer's boot. Behind the king is the old sow in front of a thatched hovel, backed by trees. Among pigs who have already reached the sea is Howick, on his back on a billowing wave. Beside him floats a paper. Behind him the head of Lord Holland looks up wistfully. Lord Grenville is carried downwards, one forefoot on a paper, while the (torn) 'Catholic Bill' floats before him. His body is covered with a distended skin of guineas, in reference to his two highly paid offices. Next, the hind-legs and vast rump of Lord Temple project from the water; beside him is another paper. Beside him is an almost submerged barrel, from which project the hind-legs of the drowning Whitbread. Next behind these, and about to plunge into the waves, are Lord St. Vincent, wearing a naval coat, Buckingham in spectacles and Garter ribbon, Bedford (Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland), from whose neck falls a ribbon. Just behind St. Vincent and Buckingham are Windham, Fitzpatrick (on his back), and Petty. Next, above these, the Duke of Norfolk, Erskine wearing his Chancellor's wig, Lauderdale, his body covered with tartan, and Spencer, with Moira close behind Bedford. The latest pigs to leave the ground are Ellenborough in his wig, Courtenay, Sidmouth, Derby, Carlisle, and Tierney. A little apart from the others Sheridan, his body covered with Harlequin's chequered coat, still has his hind-legs on the edge of the cliff. Portions of six other pigs appear in the mélée. A rosary floats on a swirling wave in the foreground (BM).
Artist:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
Date:
April 18, 1807
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Etchings
Caricatures
Satires (Visual works)
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
James Gillray (1756-1815). Prints and Drawings
Subjects:
Kings
Politicians
Nobility
Military officers
Judges
Authors
Farmers
Swine
Cliffs
Jumping
Seas
Buckingham and Chandos, Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos, Duke of, 1776-1839
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of, 1780-1863
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757-1844
Tierney, George, 1761-1830
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820
Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834
Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834
Erskine, Thomas Erskine, Baron, 1750-1823
Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839
Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville, Marquess of, 1753-1813
Windham, William, 1750-1810
Spencer, George John Spencer, Earl, 1758-1834
Holland, Henry Richard Vassall, Baron, 1773-1840
Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of, 1754-1826
St. Vincent, John Jervis, Viscount, 1735-1823
Ellenborough, Edward Law, Baron, 1750-1818
Bedford, John Russell, Duke of, 1766-1839
Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825
Courtenay, John, 1738-1816
Fitzpatrick, Richard, 1747-1813
Extent:
1 print : hand-colored etching ; plate mark 45 x 29 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z111k19n
Terms of Use:
No Copyright - United States
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
[London] : Published by John Miller, Bridge Street & W. Blackwood, Edinburgh
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from item.
Alternative title from Wright/Evans.
BM Satires 10719; Wright/Evans 337
Additional information accompanying item: From the 1824 Gillray collection of copies, etched and published by John Miller and W. Blackwood.
Notes (acquisition):
Gift; Louis Black; December 1953
Notes (date):
Date from Wright/Evans.
Reproduction. Date indicated is Gillray's original publication date.
Notes (citation):
Stephens, Frederic George, George, Mary Dorothy. "Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." British Museum Press, 1870, London.
Wright, Thomas, R. H. Evans. "Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures of James Gillray." Benjamin Blom, 1968, New York.
Identifier:
18_17_000021
Barcode:
36666003787161