Two Pair of Portraits, cartoon
TitleTwo Pair of Portraits, cartoon
ReferenceFRAMED/115
Date
7 Dec 1798
Production date 1798-12-07 - 1798-12-07
Scope and ContentFrom Catalogue of political and personal satires preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: vol 7
“James Gillray, Published December 7th 1798 by J. Wright, Piccadilly, for the Anti- Jacobin Review, Engraving (coloured and uncoloured impressions).
PI. 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', by John Horne Tooke. Horne Tooke, not caricatured, sits at an easel on which are juxtaposed two canvases, T.Q.L. portraits of Fox (I.) and Pitt (r.); he holds palette and brushes, but looks over his r. shoulder at the spectator, saying: "Which two of them will you chuse / "to hang up in your Cabinets; / "the Pitts, or the Foxes?- / "Where, on your Conscience, / "should the other two be hanged?" Fox's l. hand rests on a pedestal inscribed Deceit, on which the head of a fox holding a mask is just discernible. Pitt's r. 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 (l.) and Chatham (r.), 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, &c. (l. to r.): [1] (partly visible) a dagger about to be plunged into a prostrate figure, inscribed 3rd 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 portrait of Wilkes, squinting violently and clasping two large money-bags: 'Mr Chamberlain Wilkes ci-devant, Wilkes & 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 published 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'. Fox and Horne Tooke, equally the subjects of attack, had become reconciled, and the latter, a violent opponent of Pitt, is exhibited as a renegade by a literal illustration of his own pamphlet.
“James Gillray, Published December 7th 1798 by J. Wright, Piccadilly, for the Anti- Jacobin Review, Engraving (coloured and uncoloured impressions).
PI. 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', by John Horne Tooke. Horne Tooke, not caricatured, sits at an easel on which are juxtaposed two canvases, T.Q.L. portraits of Fox (I.) and Pitt (r.); he holds palette and brushes, but looks over his r. shoulder at the spectator, saying: "Which two of them will you chuse / "to hang up in your Cabinets; / "the Pitts, or the Foxes?- / "Where, on your Conscience, / "should the other two be hanged?" Fox's l. hand rests on a pedestal inscribed Deceit, on which the head of a fox holding a mask is just discernible. Pitt's r. 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 (l.) and Chatham (r.), 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, &c. (l. to r.): [1] (partly visible) a dagger about to be plunged into a prostrate figure, inscribed 3rd 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 portrait of Wilkes, squinting violently and clasping two large money-bags: 'Mr Chamberlain Wilkes ci-devant, Wilkes & 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 published 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'. Fox and Horne Tooke, equally the subjects of attack, had become reconciled, and the latter, a violent opponent of Pitt, is exhibited as a renegade by a literal illustration of his own pamphlet.
Extent1 framed item
Physical descriptionDimensions (H X W): 31cm X 38cm
Persons keywordGillray, James, Tooke, John Horne, Fox, Charles James, Pitt, William (1759-1806)
SubjectCartoons, Elections, Politicians
Conditions governing accessOpen
Levelfile
Normal locationD Plan Chest Drawer 4 (Room 12)