Time's revolution

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Robert Seymour
1798-1836
Time's revolution
wood engraving
88 x 84 mm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2199
Published: 
[London] : [William Strange], [ca. 1834]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Probably detached from one of four issues of Whiggeries and waggeries, London : William Strange, 1834. This publication reprinted wood engravings by Robert Seymour, Robert Cruikshank, and others which had previously appeared-- often with different captions-- in Figaro in London, also published by Strange. The identical image appeared in Figaro in London, no. 56, 1832, with the title Times revolutions.

Summary: 

Time, winged and almost naked, and on a pedestal, his scythe and hour-glass at his feet, works a crank attached to the hub of a great wheel divided into four equal sections: Whigs uppermost, Republicans at the bottom, Radicals (left) ascending, and Tories (right) descending. Each section has a party of little men with a banner. The Whigs, with a "Reform Bill" banner, are at ease, at their apogee, waving their hats; Brougham and Grey can be identified. The Republicans, with the banner of "Equality" on the ground, are being crushed under the wheel. The Radicals, with the banner of "Real Reform," are clinging painfully to the rim of the wheel or to wachother, but are on the up-grade. The Tories are falling off, head first, with Wellington still clinging to the wheel. Their banner is "Inservation" [sic].

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