"Two Pair of Portraits;"-presented to all the unbiased Electors of Great Britain, 1 December 1798
Scope and Contents
Artist: James Gillray. Published: John Wright. Pl. facing p. 574, vol. i, where a transcript of Horne Tooke's pamphlet, published for the Westminster Election of 1788, is styled 'Description of the Print'. The title continues: 'presented to all the unbiassed Electors of Great Britain, [The original title, reprinted on p. 574, continued: 'and especially to the Electors of Westminster.' The whole text of the pamphlet is reprinted in the Review, pp. 574-9, 702-9, but not in parallel columns as in 1788.] by John Horne Tooke'. Horne Tooke, not caricatured, sits at an easel on which are juxtaposed two canvases, three-quarter length [Horne Tooke described his portraits as 'not whole lengths, and left for some younger hand hereafter to finish . . .', p. 7.] portraits of Fox (Ieft) and Pitt (right); he holds palette and brushes, but looks over his right shoulder at the spectator, saying: "Which two of them will you chuse \ to hang up inyour Cabinets; \ the Pitts, or the Foxes? - \ Where, on your Conscience, \ should the other two be hanged?" [Op. cit., final words.] Fox's left hand rests on a pedestal inscribed 'Deceit', on which the head of a fox holding a mask is just discernible. Pitt's right hand rests on a similar but rather higher pedestal inscribed 'Truth'; Truth's head and a hand holding a mirror are just discernible. Their expressions support the two inscriptions. From the painter's pocket projects a pamphlet: 'Sketches of Patriotic Views - a Pension, a Mouth Stopper a Place.' On the ground, resting against a table, is the other pair of portraits, juxtaposed, Lord Holland (left) and Chatham (right), bust portraits, in peer's robes, the family likenesses to their sons, especially in the case of the Foxes, being stressed. Each holds a document: Holland, 'Unaccounted Millions' (he had been styled the public defaulter of unaccounted millions in the City petition of 1769); Chatham, 'Rewards of a Grateful Nation'. On the table is a portfolio of 'Studies from French Masters' from which protrude sketches inscribed 'From Robertspierre, from Tallien, from Marat'. The wall, which forms a background, is covered with prints, andc. (left to right): [1] (partly visible) a dagger about to be plunged into a prostrate figure, inscribed '3d Sept [1792]'. [2] 'A Sketch for an English Directory', four members of the London Corresponding Society seated at a table, the chairman a butcher holding a frothing tankard. [3] A framed half length portrait of Wilkes, squinting violently and clasping two large money-bags: 'Mr Chamberlain Wilkes ci-devant', 'Wilkes and Liberty'; it is labelled: 'The Effect in this Picture to be copied as exact as possible'. [4] A profile in silhouette: 'Shadow of the Abbe Seyes'. [5] A framed picture: 'view of the Windmill at Wimbleton' (from Horne Tooke's house, near Caesar's Camp). The two upper sails are 'Divinity' and 'Politicks', the lower 'Treason' and 'Atheism'. [6] A placard: 'just publish'd The Art of Political Painting, extracted from the works of the most celebrated Jacobin Professors - Pro bono publico.' [7] A bust of 'Machiavel', looking reflectively towards Horne Tooke. [8] Part of a landscape with a small house: 'Parsonage of Brentford'. Description from the British Museum.
Dates
- Creation: 1 December 1798
Conditions Governing Access
Physical item available by appointment in our Reading Room
Extent
1.0 Item(s)
Language of Materials
English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and Archives Repository
Western Bank Library
University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield South Yorkshire S10 2TN United Kingdom
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