Tag Archives: Giraffes

The camelopard, or, A new hobby

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“George IV sits jauntily astride a tall high-stepping giraffe, at the base of the neck, hands on hips. Lady Conyngham (left) sits sideways on the sloping back, close to the tail, her vast posterior projecting. She smiles over her shoulder. He wears a straw hat with wide curving brim. She is décolletée, with large gigot sleeves and feathers in her hair. Four Nubians (right) bow obsequiously.”–British Museum online catalogue.

 

  • Printmaker: Heath, William, 1795-1840, printmaker.
  • Title: The camelopard, or, A new hobby [graphic].
  • Publication: [London] : [publisher not identified], [not before August 1827]

Catalog Record

827.08.00.01+

Acquired November 2022

Packing up!!!

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“In a room filled with bales, chests, and plunder the Conyngham family prepare to depart. Lord Conyngham (left), in shirt-sleeves but elegant, tugs at the cord of an enormous bundle. Lady Conyngham struggles with the lock of a treasure-chest, saying, ‘There is no such thing as getting those Devilish Locks of Bramahs open’. Her daughter carries on her shoulder the skeleton of the giraffe (see British Museum Satires No. 16108). A cupboard topped with the Royal Arms displays bare shelves; plate is heaped on the floor.”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • Printmaker: Heath, William, 1795-1840, printmaker.
  • Title: Packing up!!! [graphic] / W. Heath.
  • Publication: [London] : Pub. July 1st, 1830, by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket, [1 July 1830]

Catalog Record

830.07.01.01+

Acquired January 2020

State of the giraffe

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“The King’s giraffe hangs limply from a sling which is suspended from a cross-beam supported on two uprights. George IV and Lady Conyngham push hard at a windlass to hoist up their pet. He has thrown off his coat and rolled up his shirt-sleeves; tight breeches define spherical posteriors. She looks up sentimentally at the animal, whose forelegs are swathed in stockings, with the feet in large shoes stamped with a crown. Beside it is an open chest of stoppered spirit bottles. A background of trees and grass indicates Windsor Park.”–British Museum online catalogue.

  • Printmaker: Heath, William, 1795-1840, printmaker.
  • Title: State of the giraffe [graphic] / [man with an umbrella] Esqr.
  • Publication: [London] : Pub. by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket …, [ca. July 1829]

Catalog Record

829.07.00.05+

January 2020