“Two fighting-cocks, with the heads of Napoleon and Pitt, face each other across the English Channel. Napoleon (left) has a large ruff of tricolour feathers and enormously long spurs, but his wings and tail feathers are clipped. His cliff is the higher; he leans forward, saying, “Eh Master Billy, if I could but take a flight over this Brook I would soon stop your Crowing, I would Knock you off that Perch, I swear by Mahomet, the Pope and all the Idols I have ever Worshiped.” Pitt stands on a large royal crown which brings his feet almost to a level with those of Bonaparte; he stands erect, thus towering above his rival; he has very short spurs but a fine tail and wings; he crows: “Tuck a roo – too that you never can do!!!” Below them lies the sea with a fleet of ships in full sail close to the English coast.”–British Museum online catalogue.
- Printmaker: Williams, Charles, active 1797-1830, printmaker.
- Title: The political cocks [graphic].
- Publication: [London] : Pubd. March 27th, 1803, by S.W. Fores, 50 Piccadilly, [27 March 1803]
803.03.27.01
Acquired November 2023
A small print depicting a scene from Homer’s Odyssey as he sails back to his home in Ithaca: Two Laestrygonian, who are giants, one who upends one Odysseus’s ships as other eats one of the men as the fail into the sea. The high cliffs of Lamos is in the distance on the right.
A copy in reverse of William Hogarth’s Plate 2 of A harlot’s progress: Mary Hackabout (left), now a harlot and mistress of a wealthy London Jew, exposes her breast and kicks over a tea table to divert his attention from the presence of her younger lover who hides behind the door of the room with her maid servant. A monkey and young black servant boy in a feathered turban look on the scene with frighten expressions. The mask and mirror in the lower left corner and the paintings of scenes from the Old Testament (Jonah IV.8 and 2 Samuel VI.1-5) hanging on the wall further amplify the artist’s moral message.
Queen Caroline walks down a plank balanced between a jolly boat and the shore; she is assisted by her son-in-law Prince Leopald, dressed in black. A cheering crowd stands on the beach, waving their hats in the air, behind an officer who tips his hat at the Queen. Sailors push the boat onto the shingle while a ship called “Prince Leopold” (in reference to her son-in-law) is anchored in the distance.
“Naval mutineers, seated and standing at a long table, glare ferociously at Admiral Buckner, who stands (left) calmly, hat in hand, in profile to the right at the foot of the table. The man at the head of the table, seated in a chair which is higher than the others, holds a blunderbuss and wears a hat. He must be Richard Parker, but does not resemble him. At his elbow and 
A broadside on London Bridge and its partial destruction by fire on 11 April 1758, with an account on the history of bridges on the site and an engraving of the view of London and the River Thames, with the remains of London Bridge in the centre above; engraved title above and letterpress title and text in two columns below.