The allied bakers, or, The Corsican toad in the hole

The allied bakers, or, The Corsican toad in the hole

“Three allied generals (left) hold the long handle of a shovel (peel) on which is a dish containing a tiny Napoleon. This they try to push into a baker’s oven, but are hindered by the Austrian emperor, who holds the door of the oven, feigning to be trying to open it, but actually holding it at an angle which prevents the entry of the dish. The leading baker is Blücher, wearing an apron over his uniform, and without a hat; he looks sternly at Francis, saying, “Pull away Frank! you Keep us waiting!” General Mikhail Woronzoff, young and handsome, immediately behind Blücher, pushes hard, saying, “In with it Blücher.” On the extreme left is Bernadotte, one hand on Woronzoff’s shoulder, saying, “I tell you what, Woronzow, the Hinges want a little Russia Oil.” Francis I, who like the others wears uniform with jack-boots, but has (baker’s) over-sleeves to the elbow, says with an expression of startled alarm: “This door Sticks! I dont think I shall get it open?!” A weathercock surmounts his cocked hat. Wellington comes up (right), poking him in the back with his baker’s tray on which are two pies. He says: “Shove alltogather [sic] Gentlemen! D-me shove door & all in!” His two pies are ‘Soult Pie’, with two spurred jack-booted legs projecting through the crust, and a pie with spires and other buildings, with a flag inscribed ‘Bourdeaux’. He wears an apron and the order of the Golden Fleece as well as the star of the Garter. A fat, grotesque Dutchman sits on a flat cushion gazing up at the oven; he holds, but does not use, a pair of bellows. In his conical hat is a tobacco-pipe. The fire under the oven is filled with broken eagles and fragments of weapons. Among the debris in the recess for ashes is a crown. Above the oven is the inscription ‘Allied Oven’ surmounted by a crown and cross-bones. In the shadow formed by the half-open door, a skull (Death) waits to receive Napoleon, who lies on his back, kicking violently, and shouting “Murder! Murder!!”; he wears a large plumed bicorne. The stone wall in which the oven is built forms the background.”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • PrintmakerCruikshank, George, 1792-1878, printmaker.
  • TitleThe allied bakers, or, The Corsican toad in the hole [graphic] / G.H. ivt. ; Gruikshank [sic] fect.
  • Publication[London] : Pubd. April 1st, 1814, by H. Humphrey, St. James St., [1 April 1814]

Catalog Record 

814.04.01.02+

Acquired June 2018

The Corsican whipping top in full spin!!!

The Corsican whipping top in full spin!!!

“A (tricolour) top with the head of Napoleon spins, above the ground, savagely lashed by representatives of the Allies. His arms and his legs have already been severed from his body, now represented only by the madly spinning top. The most violently active is Blücher (left) stripped to the shirt, his coat and hat thrown on a drum on the extreme left, beside which lie his gloves and baton. Facing them is Wellington (right) equally effective, stern, but less savage. Full-face, and immediately behind the top is the Tsar, left hand on hip; his whip is inscribed ‘Knout’. Between him and Wellington is Schwarzenberg (or Francis I). Bernadotte stands rather behind, between Blücher and Alexander, both hands on his hips; he holds a whip but is an amused spectator. Behind (right) the future King of Holland, crowned and wearing a star, but dressed in the breeches and jacket of the Dutchman in English caricature, sits under a tree on a cask of ‘Hollands’. He watches delightedly, holding up one of Napoleon’s legs inscribed ‘United Netherlands’. The other leg, the thigh inscribed ‘Swisslad, the boot Italy, lies near Blücher. At Wellington’s feet is the right arm inscribed Spain & Portugal’; the left arm, inscribed ‘Germany’, is near Schwarzenberg. Napoleon’s orb and (broken) sceptre lie near him, with some of the feathers from the large hat which is still on his head; his horrified and shrieking profile faces Blücher. In the background (left) is a road along which a carriage drives off, drawn by four galloping horses. It contains tiny figures: Marie Louise, crowned and looking behind her, and the little King of Rome also crowned and waving a sceptre. Two soldiers are on the box, two others sit behind. In the air behind Bernadotte a demon flies off to the left, with Joseph Bonaparte clutching his barbed tail. The latter, his crown flying off, looks back horrified, exclaiming “O! My poor Brother Nap oh oh! O!”.”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • PrintmakerCruikshank, George, 1792-1878, printmaker.
  • Title:T he Corsican whipping top in full spin!!! [graphic] / G.H. invt. ; G. Cruikshank fect.
  • Publication[London] : Pubd. April 11th, 1814, by H. Humphrey, St. James’s Strt., [11 April 1814]

Catalog Record

814.04.11.01+

Acquired June 2018