The fall of the Wolsey of the Woolsack

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James Gillray
1756-1815
The fall of the Wolsey of the Woolsack
etching, hand colored
image: 242 x 342 mm; plate: 247 x 350 mm; sheet: 247 x 361 mm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2779
Published: 
[London] : Pubd. May 24th 1792 by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street, [1792]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Printmaker from BM Satires.
Cartoon concerning Thurlow's dismissal from Chancery in 1792.

Summary: 

Print shows Thurlow, seated on a woolsack, engaged in a tug-of-war with George III over the bag of the Great Seal, while Pitt and Grenville attempt to dislodge the Chancellor. The King, in profile to the right, tugs with both hands, saying, "What! What! What! - pull against me Neddy? pull against me? - no! no! no! - 'twont do! Neddy! 'twont do! leave go! leave go! Neddy - dont put me in a passion Neddy - but leave go Neddy - " Thurlow, holding one tassel, says: "Take it ingrate! - and then farewell, - O damnation I've touched the highest point of all my greatness - damnation ... [etc.]"

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