Printmaker from BM Satires.
A re-issue of the July 30th 1782 plate, with an altered publication line dated 30 July 1785. Cf. BM Satires, 6015.
Charles Fox, with a fox's head, is riding an ass. His hands are clasped in front of him, the reins hang on the animal's neck, and he looks down with a dejected expression. The ass is looking up and braying at a gallows which bestrides the road and through which he is about to pass; it is inscribed "Let desert mount," and from it hangs a noose. Beneath the title is engraved: "And when Ahitophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his Ass, and arose, and went & hanged himself, &c." A satire on Fox's resignation, and chagrin at the appointment of William Petty, Earl of Shelburne to succeed the Marquess of Rockingham instead of the Duke of Portland, who, it was supposed, would have been a man of straw, leaving Fox virtual premier. Cf. British Museum online catalog.