The Prince in clover

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James Gillray
1756-1815
The Prince in clover
etching
image: 116 x 180 mm; sheet: 275 x 204 mm
Peel 2608b
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

A satire on the arrangement of May 1787 for the payment of the Prince's debts, and for an increase in his income.
Title etched below image.
Printmaker from British Museum catalogue.
Etched on the same plate with companion print: The Prince at grass (BM Satires 7167).
Library's impression on single sheet (measuring 275 x 204 mm) with the companion print, "The Prince at grass" (Peel 2608a).

Summary: 

A sequel to BMSat 7167, etched on the same plate. The Prince stands outside the gate of Carlton House as in BMSat 7167, but receives in a lordly manner two purses from two obsequiously bowing Treasury Secretaries (Rose and Steele). He is dressed as in BMSat 7167, but wears his coronet. Pitt, Sydney, and Dundas kneel in a grovelling manner behind the Prince, whose posteriors Pitt is about to kiss. Fox, North, Burke, and Sheridan stand behind, with gestures and expressions of pleased surprise. A tiny figure, the Duke of Richmond, is at work with a trowel on the replaced scaffolding (right), while Thurlow mounts a ladder carrying a hod. On the left a crowd of workmen wave their hats and tools in delight. In the foreground (left) sits a one-legged and one-armed sailor clasping a purse. Cf British Museum online catalogue.

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