Grosvenor Prints

[Major-General William John Arabin] (Sir Call. O'Brall:) _ ''only look at the General, Madam!'' _ See Love a la Mode.
[James Gillray]
Pub.d March 5th 1802, by H. Humphrey, 27 St James's Street.
Coloured etching. 250 x 200 (9¾ x 8"), very large margins. Creased at top. Slightly time stained.
A caricature portrait of General Arabin (1750-1828) in uniform with epaulettes, sword, and gorget and a spotted foulard or nightcap on his head. His head is turned, showing a Jewish profile and broad ogling grin. The BM records that Arabin was 'in Angelo's opinion the best amateur actor in the Pic Nics (see BMSat 9916, &c), and outstanding in anecdote, song, and imitation'.
BM Satires 9917.
[Ref: 58373] £380.00

[William Bentinck] John Bull contemplating a Statue of Portland Stone.
[Charles Williams.]
Pub,d April 1807 by Walker No 7 Cornhill.
Etching with fine hand colour. 250 x 360mm (9¾ x 14¼"), large margins. Album paper pasted over edge of plate at bottom.
William Henry Cavendish Bentinck as a statue sitting in a chair of Portland Stone blocks, a placard: 'Repaird and Whitewash'd in the Year 1807'. On seeing the statue John Bull exclaims 'I really thought this Statue was gone to decay a long time ago!!'. By the time of this caricature Portland, deaf, gouty, and infirm, was a mere figure-head. This example has Portland coloured as a man rather than the intended statue.
BM Satires 10718.
[Ref: 58345] £290.00 (£348.00 incl.VAT)

[Elizabeth Billington.] Clara _ a Bavura.
[Charles Williams.]
[Pub.d Jan.y 4th 1802 by S.W. Fores, 50 Piccadilly.
Coloured etching, 18th century watermark. 355 x 240mm (14 x 9½"). Wax stains in top corners of margins. Bit messy.
A full-length caricature portrait of Elizabeth Billington (1768-1818) as Clara in Sheridan's opera 'The Duenna', her second leading part.
BM Satires 9914.
[Ref: 58380] £260.00 (£312.00 incl.VAT)

ick heb pÿy in mÿnen buÿck. Van hcter scÿt botelli [***]
L. Fruÿtiers.
[Antwerp, c.1750.]
Rare etching. 90 x 65mm (3½ x 2½") very large margins. End of title weakly inked. Attached to Album sheet at corners.
A grotesque man carrying a vessel leaking fluid. Lodewijk Jozef Fruytiers (1713-82), dean of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1753-4.
[Ref: 58452] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)

[Man dancing?]
L. Fruÿtiers.
[Antwerp, c.1750.]
Rare etching. 90 x 65mm (3½ x 2½") very large margins.
A grotesque man wearing a comical cowl, hands behind his back, right left stretched forward, sword in his belt. A bouffon. Lodewijk Jozef Fruytiers (1713-82), dean of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1753-4.
[Ref: 58451] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)

Ian braget is mÿnen naem / tot all dingen ben ick bequam.
L. Fruytiers.
[Antwerp, c.1750.]
Etching. 90 x 65mm (3½ x 2½") very large margins. Mark in margin; attached to album sheet at corners.
A grotesque man playing a guitar. A bouffon. Lodewijk Jozef Fruytiers (1713-82), dean of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1753-4.
[Ref: 58449] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)

Voÿe ma belle mine bien en posture qui ne danseroit avec cette mesure.
L. Fruytiers.
[Antwerp, c.1750.]
Rare etching. 95 x 70mm (3¾ x 2¾") with large margins. Attached to Album sheet at corners.
A grotesque man dancing. A bouffon. Lodewijk Jozef Fruytiers (1713-82), dean of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1753-4.
[Ref: 58450] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)

[George Frederic Handel] The Charming Brute. The figures odd - yest who wou'd think Within this Tun of Meat and Drink, There dwells the soul of Soft Desires, And all that Harmony inspires; Can contrast such as this be found? Upon the Globe's extensive Round; There can - you Hogshead is his Seat His sole Devotion is to Eat.
[Joseph Goupy]
[n.d. c.1754]
Fine hand coloured etching, plate 320 x 245mm (11¾ x 9¾"). Narrow margins, long repaired tear bottom right corner, other small tears. Some creasing within the plate mark. Surface dirt.
A verson of Joseph Goupy's caricature of George Frederic Händel (1685-1759). It depicts him as a gluttonous pig sitting on a barrel of wine at the organ surrounded by instruments, dead chickens, plus food and drink such as 'Turtle soup'. A shopping list unfurls from his pocket encompassing entirely of expensive delicacies. Handel and Goupy were good friends until they had a falling out in 1743 which caused Goupy to produce this satire.
See BM Satires: 3273 for other version.
[Ref: 58329] £2,000.00

[George Hanger] Georgey a'Cock-horse.
[James Gillray.]
Pub.d Nov.r 23.d 1796, by H. Humphrey New Bond Street.
Hand-coloured etching. Sheet: 345 x 270mm (13½ x 10½"). Slight central crease. Trimmed to plate top and left, laid on album paper.
A caricature of George Hanger riding a pony past the famous coffee-house, 'The Mount', in Grosvenor Street, the end of his bludgeon resting on the right toe. Hanger (1751-1824) had served with Banastre Tarleton's Legion as a major during the American Revolutionary War, commanding it at the defeat at the Battle of Charlotte of 1780, in which he was wounded. Returning to England he became a friend of the Prince of Wales and Charles James Fox, becoming known as an eccentric. In 1814 he inherited the barony of Coleraine from his brother but declined to assume the title. In his autobiography ('The life, adventures and opinions of Col. George Hanger', 1801) he predicted that one day the northern and southern states of America ''will fight as vigorously against each other as they both have united to do against the British''.
BM Satires: 8889.
[Ref: 58356] £450.00 (£540.00 incl.VAT)

[William Hanger.] Lord [image of a sword]
Drawn & Pub.d by Dighton Char.g Cross. Jan.y 1808.
Hand-coloured etching. 280 x 175mm (11 x 7"), on paper watermarked 'J Whatman 1801', very large margins. Slight spotting at top of plate. Crease top right.
A caricature of William Hanger, third Lord Coleraine, in riding dress with spurs, cane under his arm Hanger (1744-1814) was MP for East Retford 1775-8, Aldborough 1778-80 and St Michael's 1780-4. In 1794 he succeeded his elder brother John in the barony (Irish Peerage), in turn succeeded by his brother George.
BM Satires: 10154.
[Ref: 58407] £140.00 (£168.00 incl.VAT)

[Thomas Harley?] The City Apprentice at S.t James's.
[Every Man’s Magazine, 1st February, 1772.]
Etching with engraving, sheet 170 x 110mm (6¾ x 4¼"). Trimmed within plate, laid on album paper.
A man in a toupet wig and an embroidered waistcoat takes a pinch from a snuffbox, indentified in BM Satires as probably Thomas Harley, third son of the third Earl of Oxford, who was the leader of the Court party in the City. On the left is a beefeater; behind are two men discussing Harley, one of which is Lord North.
BM Satires 4939.
[Ref: 58309] £70.00 (£84.00 incl.VAT)

[Albina Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire.] Enter Cowslip, with a bowl of Cream. _ Vide Brandenburg Theatricals.
J.s G.y des.n et fec.t.
Pub.d June 13th 1795 by H. Humphrey No 37 New Bond Street.
Coloured etching. Stuck on verso in ink, a description of an oak tree from Bassaleg Monmouth, 10' in width and 470' high, cut down 1810; Sheet 330 x 220mm (13 x 8¾"). Trimmed to printed border. Some toning.
A caricature of Albina Hobart (c.1737-1816., Countess of Buckinghamshire, almost spherical, holding a bowl. Albinia was famed for her society parties at Hobart House in Ham, which involved illegal high stake gambling on the faro card game. She also performed at the private theatre of the Margravine of Anspach at Brandenburg House, Hammersmith. Her size, lifestyle and love of extravagant fashion aimed at her daughters' generation made her a target for caricatures: over 50 satirical prints of her were made. A rare Gillray image.
BM Satires 8721. From the Collection of Miss Harriet Robinson.
[Ref: 58405] £420.00

[John Kemble] We serve a King whom we love = a God whom we Adore. Pizarro
Drawn. Etch'd & Pub.d by Dighton. Char.g Cross June. 1799.
Coloured etching. 225 x 170mm (9 x 6¾"), with large margins. Creasing
A slightly satirical portrait of John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) as Rolla the noble Peruvian in the play 'Pizarro', which opened on May 24, 1799, with Barrymore as Pizarro and Mrs Sarah Siddons as Elvira.
BM Satires 9436.
[Ref: 58314] £160.00 (£192.00 incl.VAT)

Mr. Daniel Lambert, Thirty-Six Years of Age, Weighs upwards of Fifty Stone (14 lbs to the Stone,) or Seven Hundred Pounds, Measures Three Yars Four Inches round the Body, and One Yars One Inch round the Leg, is Five Feet Eleven Inches in Height, and has No Blemish Whatever on any Part of his Body.
[London: John Fairburn, 1806.]
Coloured etching. Plate 200 x 280mm (7¾ x 11"), with letterpress, sheet 330 x 285mm (13 x 11¼"). Trimmed from a larger sheet, but platemark and description of Lambert complete.
A broadsheet portrait of Daniel Lambert (1770-1809), a gaol keeper who found fame for his vast bulk. It was issued with a sub-title 'Fairburn's Accurate Portraits of the Two most Corpulent Englishmen ever known...', with a similar portrait of Edward Bright.
Wellcome Collection 2348i. See Refs: 58382 & 58383 for Fat Men images.
[Ref: 58347] £380.00

[Gertrude Mahon] The Bird of Paradise.
Printed for & Sold by Carington Bowles, at his Map & Print Warehouse, No 69 in St Pauls Church Yard, London. Published as the Act directs, 2 Jan 1781.
Mezzotint with fine hand-colouring. 350 x 250mm (13¾ x 9¾"). Narrow margins, paper lightly toned and chipped in top edge, ink smear in publication line.
Gertrude Mahon, seated on a settee smiling, holding a black mask. On the cushion of the settee is a card ''Admit Mrs M_ to the Mask'd Ball''. She is attractively dressed in the fashion of the period, with a muslin apron. Her coiffure is extravagantly large, with curls on her neck, and is covered by an elaborately frilled muslin cap. Gertrude Mahon (née Tilson, 1752-c.1808) was the Dublin-born daughter of the dowager countess of Kerry. Left £3000 at the age of twelve, she became famous for her love of clothes and notorious adulteries. Needing money, she attempted to become an actress but supplemented her income by being a courtesan. She was last heard of in 1808.
[Ref: 58489] £590.00

[Louis-Sébastien Mercier] Mr L'ane comme il n'y en a point. Peu m'importent les chefs d'oeuvres de tous les arts, pourvu que j'écrase, que je m'élève, et que le chardon ne me manque pas. O gens de goût, reconnaissez la bête.
Inspiré par Crémier.
[n.d., 1797.]
Etching with engraving. 240 x 265mm (9½ x 10½"), with large margins.
A caricature of Louis-Sébastien Mercier (1740-1814) as a donkey with his face, kicking over a bust of Apollo and the Transfiguration of Raphael with his hind legs, trampling the books of Descartes and Racine with his forelegs. It satirises Mercier’s opposition to the creation of a chalcographie nationale to make engravings after the paintings in the Louvre, arguing that anyone should be able to do it. ‘Cremier’ is a fake name. A French dramatist and writer, Mercier was highly critical of earlier art, especially writers including Rancine and Boileau. He was a member of the National Convention who was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, only surviving because of the fall of Robiespierre.
BM 1991,0615.132.
[Ref: 58459] £360.00

[Louis-Sébastien Mercier] Envain contre les Arts, ce vieux Roquet s'escrime, / C'est le Serpent qui mord la lime.
[n.d., c.1800.]
Etching. 185 x 125mm (7¼ x 5"). Slight foxing of edges, old ink mss. in list of names, large margins. Creasing.
A caricature of Louis-Sébastien Mercier (1740-1814) as a pug standing upright in the dress of a clerk, quill in hand and book under his arm. He stands before a monument inscribed with a list of artists' names. At the base is a snake with a file (tool) in its mouth. The title roughly translates as 'In vain this old pug fights against the arts; it's the snake that bites the file'. A French dramatist and writer, Mercier was highly critical of earlier art, especially writers including Rancine and Boileau. He was a member of the National Convention who was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, only surviving because of the fall of Robiespierre.
[Ref: 58448] £260.00 (£312.00 incl.VAT)

[Louis-Sébastien Mercier] Erostrate moderne, Ecrivant sur les Arts.
[n.d., c.1800.]
Coloured etching. 220 x 170mm (8¾ x 6¾"). Trimmed into plate at sides.
A caricature of Louis-Sébastien Mercier (1740-1814), blindfolded, with horns, seated in a chair marked 'Trésor des Iconoclastes', writing with a quill. A French dramatist and writer, Mercier was highly critical of earlier art, especially writers including Rancine and Boileau. He was a member of the National Convention who was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, only surviving because of the fall of Robiespierre.
[Ref: 58454] £240.00 (£288.00 incl.VAT)

[John Morgan] John Doe. Pledge to Prosecute.
Pub.d by G. Humphreys, 27, St James Street [n.d., c.1820].
Scarce coloured etching. 250 x 175mm (9¾ x 7"), paper watermarked 'J Whatman 1820'. Trimmed to printed border on three sides, old ink mss. under image, crease, laid on album paper.
According to the manuscript, this is John Morgan, a solictor of Bedford Square. He is depicted as a square-jawed old man in old fashioned clothes, a brief marked 'KB' (King's Bench) in his pocket. BM states that he is a clock/ watchmaker. The National Archives has the will of a John Morgan, a solicitor of Bedford Square, who died in 1821.
BM 14821. BM states that he is a clock/ watchmaker.
[Ref: 58298] £260.00 (£312.00 incl.VAT)

[Antoine Paul] Pas Gracieux. du 1.er ballet. (M.r Paul.) Dans la Lampe merveilleuse, Opéra, (Acad.e R.le de musique.)
AG [monogram of Auguste Garneray] Lith de G. Engelmann.
[Paris, Martinet, 1822.]
Coloured lithograph. Framed, visible area 210 x 150mm (8¼ x 6"). Paper toned, unexamined out of frame.
A full-length portrait of ballet dancer Antoine Paul (1798-1871, known as Mr Paul) in costume in the opera 'La lampe merveilleuse', the Aladdin story.
[Ref: 58493] £90.00 (£108.00 incl.VAT)

[Thomas Powys] The Atlas of the Landed Interest. To Pitt by Friendship I am tied / Yet always with his Foes divide / Wou'd make this Son of England's Glory / A creature neither Whig nor Tory Wou'd have him quit his high Condition, / To grovel in a Coalition, Perswade him that a Tavern Vote / Shou'd make a Premier change his Note (A vote from coalescing Embers / of Faction, more than County Members) / Thus make this persevering Elf / As inconsistent as myself.
J.S. [James Sayers]
Published 10th Feb.y 1784 by Ja.s Bretherton.
Etching. 240 x 170mm (9½ x 6¾"). Trimmed within plate at bottom, old ink mss. over publisher's inscription.
A caricature portrait of Thomas Powys (1743-1800), M.P. for Northamptonshire from 1774 until 1797, when he became 1st Baron Lilford. Elongated, he walks with a corded bale marked 'Landed Interest For M[r Fo]x at Brookes's By the Carrier from St Alban's'. In early 1784 he attempted to effect a coalition between Pitt and Fox, the first step being a meeting at the St. Alban's Tavern.
BM Satires 6413.
[Ref: 58318] £130.00 (£156.00 incl.VAT)

Sawney in the Bog-House. 'Tis a bra' bonny seat, o' my saul, Sawney cries, / I never beheld sic before with me Eyes, Such a place in aw' Scotland I never could meet, For the High and the Low ease themselves in the Street.
[James Gillray.]
Published 4th June 1779, by M.rs Holt, No 111. Oxford Street London [but H.G. Bohn, 1851].
Coloured etching. 355 x 250mm (14 x 9¾") very large margins.
A caricature of a Scot misunderstanding the use of a privy, with his kilt around his waist and his legs down different holes. The thistle and the crown suggests that he is a Jacobite. This example comes from Henry George Bohn's collected edition of Gillray's satires. This is one of the 'Suppressed Plates', which are particularly hard to find in their original printings.
See BM Satires 5539.
[Ref: 58366] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)

[Lumley Skeffinton] Half Natural.
[James Gillray.]
Pub.d August 1st 1799. by H. Humphrey No 27 St James's Street.
Etching. Sheet 260 x 190mm (10¼ x 7½"). Trimmed within plate.
A caricature of Sir Lumley St George Skeffington (1771-1850), 2nd Baronet, shown from behind, with exaggerated shoulders, looking towards a gibbet, smiling. A fop and playwright whose 'The Sleeping Beauty' was presented at Drury Lane in May 1805, he was consulted on dress and style by the Prince Regent. He invented the colour Skeffington brown.
BM Satire 9440.
[Ref: 58321] £180.00 (£216.00 incl.VAT)

[Tobacco] Best Havannah. Returns. Pig Tail. Tabac Exquis.
ACrowquill fecit.
Pub.d by S. Knights Sweetings Alley London 3 April 1825.
Rare coloured etching. 250 x 355mm (9¾ x 14"), paper watermarked 'J Whatman 1825'. Paper toned and stained.
Four caricatured men stand, three smoking, the fourth, a Frenchman with his poodle, takes snuff from a box.
BM Satires 14908.
[Ref: 58361] £75.00 (£90.00 incl.VAT)

[Nicholas Vansittart] Old Nic the Covey wot Drives the Bexley Van. My name is Nicholas your honor - they calls me Hocus Pocus for short, but lork I'm no Conjuror - I got Exchequered - but that's nothink to Nobody.
[Monogram of Paul Pry, i.e. William Heath] Esq.r.
Pub May 1829 by T. McLean 26 Haymarket.
Coloured etching Charles Smith bookseller's ink stamp in bottom margin. 370 x 265mm (14½ x 10½"). Tear taped, glue stain in edge of plate. Faded.
Apparently Heath intends the victim of this caricature to be Nicholas Vansittart (1766-1851), Lord Bexley, one of the longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer; however the face does not resemble him.
BM Satires: 15747.
[Ref: 58355] £65.00 (£78.00 incl.VAT)

[Wellington & Brougham] A Curious Figure that Kicks all Manner of Ways. HB Sketches no 764.
HB [John Doyle] Printed at 70 St Martin's Lane.
Published by T. McLean, 26, Haymarket, March, 1843.
Tinted lithograph. Sheet 365 x 275mm (14¼ x 10¾"), large margins. Tear entering printed border at top repaired, some spotting.
The Duke of Wellington operates a cardboard figure of Lord Brougham, with jointed arms and legs.
[Ref: 58474] £140.00 (£168.00 incl.VAT)

[Wellington] This Statue of Roman Cement_has been erected at the cost of the 40s Freeholders- The Noblest Roman of the All.
[Monogram of Paul Pry, pseudonym of William Heath] Esq.
Pub April by T McLean 26 Haymarket. [n.d. c.1830.]
Hand-coloured etching. Sheet 355 x 250mm (14 x 9¾"). Trimmed within plate. Time stained.
Caricature of the Duke of Wellington, referring to the Bill to disenfranchise the forty shilling Irish freeholders which accompanied the Catholic Emancipation Relief Act, raising fivefold the economic qualifications for voting. The Bill passed with little opposition but not without protest. Wellington as a statue in Roman armour, holding against his right hip a document inscribed 'Emancipation'. He wears a wreath of battered ears of corn (suggesting the straw crown of the lunatic as well as the Corn Bill), and faces an aggressive raven with the head of Eldon. Other menacing birds fly near. From the pedestal, as a background to the Duke's legs, projects a trophy of flags topped by French imperial eagles, with spear, bayonet, &c.
BM Satires: 15722.
[Ref: 58272] £260.00 (£312.00 incl.VAT)

John Wilkes Esq.r.
Drawn from the Life and Etched in Aquafortis by Willm. Hogarth.
Price 1 Shilling. Publish'd according to Act of Parliament May ye 16. 1763.
Etching. 355 x 230mm (14 x 9"). Trimmed just within plate at bottom, crease across top.
Caricature portrait of John Wilkes (1725 - 1797), holding a pole topped by the cap of Liberty. The personal friendship of Hogarth & Wilkes did not stop the two attacking each other in caricature and pamphlet. Early in 1763 Wilkes had antagonised Hogarth by mocking his acceptance of royal payment; here Hogarth retaliates with this satirical portrait of Wilkes during his trial for an attack on George III in his satirical journal 'The North Briton'. On the reverse is pasted an election bill for Montgomery for the General Election of 1802, advertising the support of 'Lady Harriot'. (Henrietta Clive, sister of George Edward Henry Arthur Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, and daughter-in-law of Clive of India) and 'two Clives for Ever' for an unnamed candidate. Very scarce local publication line 'Griffiths Printers Bishop's Castle'.
Paulson: 214, I of II, with price. BM 4050.
[Ref: 58307] £360.00

Quick Search

Search by Ref. Number

Browse by Subject

Browse by Artist

Browse by Engraver

New - Catalogue 136

Catalogue 135

Catalogue 134

Advanced Search