“A caricatured old man shown half-length to right, sipping from a small glass and his arms around a bottle, resting his elbows on a table, wearing tattered clothes and a hat over a scarf around his head; in an oval.”–British Museum online catalogue, description of the related print.
Drawings D574 no. 11 Box D117
Acquired June 2024
“A giant mushroom reaches the upper margin of the design; in its summit a cask is embedded. The butler stands on a ladder (left) holding out the spigot, and saying to Banks who stands below (right): “here’s a pretty “Tale of a tub, all the Wine’s gone!!” Sir Joseph stands in back view, capering delightedly; he holds up both arms, a stick in the left hand, and says with head thrown back: “It is a most Glorious discovery cut it down & send it to the Museum had the Wine been Bottled, it wod not have been half so Interesting.” Against the wall of the cellar are wine-bins, stacked with bottles, four inscribed respectively ‘Curious Tinta’; ‘Cypress’; ‘Very Curious’; ‘Wine drank by the Grt Mogul’. Flasks on the top of the bins are ‘Nile Water’ and ‘Water from Tombuctoo’. On the ground (left) is a two-handled covered vase: ‘A small portion of the Sabine left by Horace at his death contained in this Vase preserved for dinners of the R S.’.”–British Museum online catalogue.
“Below the title: ‘–Dedicated to the worthy President–Sir Joseph Banks having a Cask of Wine rather too sweet for use, he directed that it shod be placed in a Cellar that the Saccharine matter it contain’d might be more perfectly decomposed by age–At the end of three years he directed his Butler to ascertain the state of the Wine, when on attempting to open the Cellar door he was prevented by some powerful obstacle–the Door was therefore cut down & the Cellar was found to be completely fill’d with a firm fungus vegetable production–the Cask was Empty & carried up to the deling where it was supported by the surface of the Fungus.–(vide Monthly Magazine).'”–British Museum online catalogue.
819.03.00.03
Acquired May 2024
Print showing George IV being carried in a sedan chair by two men wearing judicial wigs and robes, one carries a sceptor; on the top of the chair sits Queen Caroline holding a noise maker, she tells the porters to “Keep joging, I’le be your Pilot, don’t fear his Wakeing – I have Composed his Highness, I warrant you.” George IV pours out the contents of a bottle labeled “opium” and on the ground next to the chair is a broken bottle also labeled “opium.”
“Political satire: the Prince Regent carried in a chair by two judges, with Mrs Fitzherbert on the roof with two babies, followed by the cabinet.”–British Museum online catalogue.
824.04.24.01+
Acquired September 2023
Three men sit by a supper-table, a grandfather-clock behind them points to XI. The man on the left is having his jack-boots pulled off by a small boy; the boy stands astride his right leg pulling hard, his back to the man, who is scowling and pushes his other booted foot against the boy’s back; on the floor are a pair of spurs, a pair of slippers, and a boot-jack. A man (right) wearing a night-cap, but otherwise completely dressed and wearing spurred boots, leans one elbow on the table, his face contorted as if in pain, he holds his hand to his thigh. On the table beside him is a small packet inscribed “Diaculum”. In the centre, and on the farther side of the table, the third man leans both elbows on the table, his hair is tousled and his eyes are shut. A servant behind, yawning, is carrying off a square box, probably a wig-box, while a maidservant stands on the right, a candle in one hand, a warming-pan in the other, watching with amusement the efforts of the boy to pull off the boot. Three hats hang on the wall; a bottle, a plate, three wine-glasses, and a guttering candle, burnt down to the socket, stand on the table. See related image in the British Museum catalogue.
816.00.00.81+
Acquired November 2020
A French satire on the British administration, who are gathered around a table with bottles and glasses (two of which are toppled over) and a battle plan (’Plan de Berlin’) drawn on the tablecloth. In1806, French forces under Napoleon occupied Prussia, pursued the remnants of the shattered Prussian Army, and captured Berlin.
806.00.00.54+
Acquired May 2020
“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.
821.04.03.01
Acquired March 2019
“Three women and a man stand drinking gin in an interior in St Giles’s, London; the woman on the left grabs a bottle from a shelf, to her right a woman holds up a gin cup; the man stands behind the three women leaning against a clock and a fireplace.”–British Museum online catalogue.
789.06.01.03+
Acquired April 2019
Caroline lies on a sofa within a tent, dressed in her nightclothes and wearing a miniature of Bergami around her neck; her feathered hat rests on the ground, and on the small table beside her sit bottles of “Brandy” and “Essense of Bergamo” and a container of “Rouge”. She smiles and looks over at Bergami, who sits beside her, his slippers and hat discarded on the floor below. Above, a man reaches into the tent to take a lit candle in the candlestick from Bergami, who hands it off with a pleased expression on his face. Beside him on the sofa is a book entitled “The Pilgrim’s Guide”.
821.06.25.01
Acquired March 2019