A French gentleman of the court of Louis XVIth, a French gentleman of the court of Égalité, / Js. Gillray, inv. & fec.

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James Gillray
1756-1815
A French gentleman of the court of Louis XVIth, a French gentleman of the court of Égalité, / Js. Gillray, inv. & fec.
[London] : Pubd August 15th 1799, by H Humphrey 27 St James's Street, [1799]
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
1986.303
Published: 
[London] : Pubd August 15th. 1799, by H. Humphrey 27 St James's Street, [1799]
Provenance: 
From the library of Gordon N. Ray.
Summary: 

Print shows an elderly courtier of the 'ancien régime' bowing low and exclaiming: 'Je suis voire tres humble Serviteur'. He wears a high toupet wig and a large black bag (which flies into the air as he bows) with a solitaire ribbon round the neck and a small tricorne hat is in his right hand. His successor stands in back view, legs astride, hands thrust deep into his coat-pockets, a bludgeon projecting vertically from the left pocket. His head, with blunt, coarse features, is turned in profile to the left, to say: "Baiser mon Cu [sic]". He has shaggy hair with a long pigtail queue, and wears a large cocked hat, one peak on his neck, round which is a clumsy neck-cloth. His coat is loose with broad collar and projecting revers. His breeches are tied beneath the knee, showing striped stockings above very wrinkled boots with grotesquely pointed toes.

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