John Bull ground down / design'd by Fs. Ls. Esqr.

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James Gillray
1756-1815
John Bull ground down / design'd by Fs. Ls. Esqr.
etching
image: 245 x 344 mm; plate: 247 x 348 mm; sheet: 246 x 340 mm
Peel 3417
Published: 
[London] : Pubd. June. 1st. 1795 by H. Humphrey N. 37 New Bond Street, [1795]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Title from item.
Printmaker from BM Satires.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.

Summary: 

John Bull's head and shoulders emerge from a gigantic coffee-mill. He is being ground by Pitt into guineas which pour from the spout of the machine into the inverted coronet of the Prince of Wales, held out by the Prince (left). John Bull, his hands clasped, shrieks "Murder! Murder!" Pitt (right), both hands on the handle, is working hard, stripped to his shirt. His coat lies across an enormous heap of guineas on which he rests his left knee. Between Pitt and the post of the mill Dundas and Burke are grovelling for guineas: Burke, frowning, uses both hands; Dundas, who wears a plaid, fills his Scots cap. Behind the post Loughborough grovels, his elongated judge's wig turned in back view. The Prince (right) wearing a Garter ribbon, with the letters 'G.P' on the jewel, kneels on one knee, his head turned in back view; he points out his harvest of coins to a row of creditors. These stand in a row on the left: a jockey, probably Chifney (given a pension by the Prince, see BMSat 7918), holds out a paper: 'Debts of Honor'. Next, a bearded Jewish man holds out a paper headed 'Money Lent at £500 pr Cent'. Next is Mrs. Fitzherbert (caricatured) and another woman (? Mrs. Crouch); others are indicated.

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