A sketch of the interior view of the House of Lords

description below

Illustration of the interior of the House of Lords during the trial of Queen Caroline, consort of George IV. Seated around a table in the center are the Queen, the Judges, the Bishops, the Lord Chancellor, the Attorney General (Sir R. Gifford), the Solicitor General (Mr. Serj’t. Copley), and Mr. Gurney, the short-hand writer; standing in the foreground are Mr. Maule, Solicitor to the Treasury, Theodore Majocchi, first witness against Her Majesty, and the Marquis of Spinette, interpreter. Mr. Brougham, Attorney General to Her Majesty, Mr. Denman, Solicitor General to Her Majesty, and Dr. Lushington sit on the Queen’s left. Supporters of the Treasury fill the gallery on one side of the room and supporters of the Opposition fill the gallery opposite. An empty throne occupies the center space in the background.

 

  • Printmaker: Roberts, Robert, active 1820s, printmaker.
  • Title: A sketch of the interior view of the House of Lords, representing the trial of her majesty Queen Caroline [graphic] / drawn by Cruikshanks ; etched by Roberts.
  • Publication: [London] : Published Octr. 1st, 1820, by H. Rowe, 2 Amen Corner, [1 October 1820]

Catalog Record

820.10.01.04

Acquired November 2022

The one-eyed husband, or, The wife’s dream

description below

A scene in a chamber with the end of canopy bed visible in the background, left. A woman in her undergarments, a candlestick in the foreground positioned suggestively between her legs, reaches out to cover her husband’s one good eye as he walks through the front door; behind her, her lover escapes undetected with his clothes over his arm. Outside, through the open door, a servant can be seen leading a horse, with a barn across the yard. To the right of the door, a chamber pot sits on a ladder-back chair with a hat and a fiddle hanging off pegs on the wall above.

 

  • Creator: Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827, artist.
  • Title: [The one-eyed husband, or, The wife’s dream] [art original] / T. Rowlandson.
  • Production: [England], [late 18th century?]

Catalog Record

Drawings R79 no. 21 Box D207

Acquired November 2022

A royal salute

description below

A caricature of Queen Caroline embracing her lover Bartolomeo Bergami.

  • Printmaker: Heath, William, 1795-1840, printmaker.
  • Title: A royal salute [graphic] : le cannon est en bas.
  • Publication: [London] : Pub. Aug. 28, 1820, by S.W. Fores, 41 Picadilli [sic], [28 August 1820]

Catalog Record

820.08.28.01.1+

Acquired April 2023

High life at five in the morning

description below

Print shows an interior view of a room; a duke has arrived home drunk at 5 a.m. (as shown on the longcase clock beside the door) accompanied by two attendants and watchman only to find his bedchamber occupied by another man. Through the open curtains around the bed can be seen a bare-breasted duchess. On the floor near the bed is an open book, “Memoirs of a woman of pleasure” (a reference to John Cleland’s Fanny Hill …) beside the chamber pot. As the duke with sword drawn, staggers forward, his rival climbs through a window in the background, leaving his clothes behind on a chair. A monkey dashes onto the table near the window on the heels of the husband’s rival but pulls down the tablecloth causing the items on the table to be strewn across the floor in the foreground; a book opened to pages “Chastity in the nobility a farce. Dedicated to their Graces the Duke & Dutchess xxx”, breaking a broken mirror, and sending the bottles and jars onto the floor. The bottles have labels “Viper drops” and “Surfeit water” and the jar is labeled “Lip salve”.

  • Title: High life at five in the morning [graphic].
  • Publication: [London] : [publisher not identified], publish’d according to act of Parliament, May 1st, 1769.

Catalog Record

769.05.01.01+

Acquired February 2022

The history of Donna Eugenia, or, The innocent adulteress

printed text

  • Title: The history of Donna Eugenia, or, The innocent adulteress : in which is exemplified the bad effects of disproportionate ages in marriage, the consequence of indulging in illegitimate passion and revenge, and the beneficial result of timely repentance.
  • Publication: London : Printed by Lewis and Hamblin, Paternoster-Row; for Langley and Belch, 173, Borough High-Street, 1807.

Catalog Record

659 807H

Acquired December 2021

“Returning Justice lifts aloft her scale.”

description below

“An emblematical and composite scene, with a realistic background intended for Lake Como, with the Villa d’Este (right), decorated with dancing figures as in British Museum satires no. 14171. In the foreground the Queen, between Bergami and Wood, falls from the tilting summit of a breaking pillar, supported on insecure props. She falls to the left, with Bergami, whose arm is round her waist. Wood, who holds her left hand, falls to the right, weighed down by a block inscribed ‘Log’ chained to his ankle. A small figure of Justice holding scales descends through the air towards them. The pillar resolves itself into separate blocks on each of which is a letter: ‘M O B / I L I T Y’. A board resting on a ram’s head forms the tiny platform from which the trio are falling. The pillar rests on a slab inscribed ‘Adultery’. This is supported on the bewigged head of Brougham which is raised on three props: a massive broom, and two beams poised on a rectanglar cage in which sits a second and much smaller lawyer (Denman). The beams are respectively ‘Sham Addresses’ and ‘Hired Processions’ [see British Museum satires no. 14182]. These props are flanked by two ladders resting against the ‘Adultery’ slab, by which Bergami (see British Museum satires no. 14183) and Wood (see British Museum satires no. 13734) have reached the Queen. One (left) is inscribed ‘Brass’; from it dangle emblems of Bergami: a postilion’s boot, a whip, and a Maltese cross, see British Museum satires no. 13810. The other (right) is ‘Wood’; from it dangle a bottle, a pestle and mortar, and a porter’s knot. In the foreground (right) are thistles, emblem of ‘Thistle-Wood’, see British Museum satires no. 14146. On Lake Como sails (left) a one-masted vessel with a tent on its deck, the polacca, see British Museum satires no. 13818. Beyond its shores and on the extreme left are tiny buildings representing Jerusalem. A lake-side signpost, ‘To Jerusalem’, points in the same direction, and near it the Princess and Bergami ride side by side on asses (see British Museum satires no. 13918, &c.). On the right is a travelling-carriage, with two horses and a postilion; in it sit the same couple. On the door are the letters ‘C·B’. In the lake behind it the pair are seen bathing, two nude figures standing waist-deep, holding hands. Near them is an empty rowing-boat inscribed ‘Como’..”–British Museum online catalogue.

 

  • Printmaker: Lane, Theodore, 1800-1828, printmaker.
  • Title: “Returning Justice lifts aloft her scale.” Pope [graphic].
  • Publication: London : Pubd. by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s St., June 1st, 1821.

Catalog Record

821.06.01.07

Acquired March 2020

Dido in despair

Dido in despair. Detailed description below

“A parody of British Museum Satires No. 9752, Gillray’s ‘Dido in Despair!’ The Queen takes the place of Lady Hamilton, in a similar pose but tearing her long black hair with more of rage and less of grief. She wears a bracelet on each arm, one inscribed ‘BB’ (for Bergami), the other ‘MW’ (for Wood). On the floor are gifts to the Queen. Her bare right foot rests on a large cake inscribed ‘MW’ on which are various emblems: a large crown, which she kicks over, busts of Wood, Bergami, Lieut. Hownam, and an unidentified person; also a goat, an ass, and a cat. This stands on a paper: ‘Mr Trifle’s Love to the Q[ueen]’. A huge round of beef is ticketed ‘With Mr Suets Love to the Q–n’; with this is a roll of ‘Cat’s Meat’. A model of a pair of stays enclosed in a glass case stands on two papers: ‘Glass-blower’s Delight’ and ‘O stay my love my Cary dear’. A pair of breeches of metal is ‘For Bat [Bergami] or Cat ad libitum from the Brazier[s]’. Caricatures lie near a pair of slippers inscribed ‘BB’; the uppermost is of Bergami drinking at a table between Wood and the Queen. A book is ‘Catalogue of Fancy Men’. The glass on the dressing-table is topped by a crescent; on it hang miniatures of Bergami and Wood (cf. No. 13858). The table is covered with decanters, one labelled ‘Brandy’ [see British Museum Satires No. 14175], glass, pill-box, and boxes of ‘Rouge’, ‘Brick dust’, and ‘Court Plaister’. The curtains of the bed are fringed with gold and hang from a pelmet. In place of Gillray’s open sash-window is a closed French window; outside is a landscape, with two asses, and a lake (Como) with a sailing-boat.”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • Printmaker: Lane, Theodore, 1800-1828, printmaker.
  • Title: Dido in despair [graphic].
  • Publication: London : Pubd. by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s St., April 3rd, 1821.

Catalog Record 

821.04.03.01

Acquired March 2019

Modesty!

Caroline and Bergami sit together in an opera-box

Caroline and Bergami sit together in an opera-box, frowning angrily at the occupants of the pit, all men, who look up at the box disapprovingly. Bergami holds a bottle labelled ‘Essence of Bergamot’ and wears a braided hussar uniform. Caroline is very décolletée, with loose black curls and a four-cornered headdress. The Arms of the Republic of Genoa are on the wall beside them with a harp and musical score below. The front of the box is decorated with two cupids holding a ribbon.

  • Printmaker: Lane, Theodore, 1800-1828, printmaker.
  • Title: Modesty! [graphic].
  • Publication: London : Pubd. by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s St., June 7, 1821.

Catalog Record

821.06.07.02

Acquired March 2019

John Bull’s little darling

John Bull's little darling. Detailed description below.

“Queen Caroline, stout and raddled, with black ringlets, stands full-face and four-square, bending forward as if bowing, with a fixed stare from black beady eyes. She wears the feathered hat (caricatured) of the ‘trial’, and a fur-bordered pelisse. Under her right arm is a rolled document, ‘List of [Addresses’; in her left hand she awkwardly raises her skirts in order to bow. She stands on a grass plot in front of Brandenburgh House. Below the design: … ‘Lo! yonder she walketh in maiden sweetness, with innocence on her mind and modesty in her cheek.– Her hand seeketh employment; her foot delighteth not in gadding abroad.– She is cloathed with neatness; she is fed with temperance; humility and meekness are as a crown of glory circling her head.– Her breast is the mansion of goodness; and therefere [sic] she suspecteth no evil in others.– Decency is in all her words; in her answers are mildness and truth.– Submission and obedience are the lessons of her life; and peace and happiness are her rewards.– Before her steps walketh Prudence; and Virtue attendeth at her right hand. Her eye speaketh softness and love; but discretion with a sceptre sitteth on her brow.– The tongue of the licentious is dumb in her presence; the awe of her virtue keepeth him silent.– Happy Bartolomeo [Bergami]!!! he putteth his heart in her bosom, and receiveth Comfort.– Thus the prudence of her management is an honor to her husband, and he must hear her praise with silent delight.–!!!'”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • Printmaker: Lane, Theodore, 1800-1828, printmaker.
  • Title: John Bull’s little darling [graphic].
  • Publication: [London] : Published by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s St., Jany. 25, 1821.

Catalog Record 

821.01.25.02

Acquired March 2019

Bat, Cat and Mat

Caricature with Queen Caroline with her arms linked to those of Bergami and her lawyer

Caricature with Queen Caroline with her arms linked to those of Bergami and her lawyer, as they step along the road between St Omer and Calais. The Queen wears a watch at her waist and two miniature portraits hang from cords at her bosom. In the background her coach awaits with a coachman in tall boots smiling at the scene. A re-issue with new background of a plate first published on 19 January 1821.

  • Printmaker: Lane, Theodore, 1800-1828, printmaker.
  • Title: Bat, Cat and Mat [graphic] : how happy could I be with either.
  • Publication: London : Published by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s St., June 1, 1821.

Catalog Record 

821.06.01.04

Acquired March 2019