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| 1800c Self-Portrait watercolour on ivory 7.6 x 6.4 cm © National Portrait Gallery, London |
James Gillray,(born 13 August 1756, Chelsea, near London - died 1 June 1815, London), an English caricaturist chiefly remembered for lively political cartoons directed against George III of England and Napoleon I. Often scurrilous and violent in his criticism, he brought a highly dramatic sense of situation and analogy to cartooning.
Gillray learned letter engraving and in 1778 was admitted as a student to the Royal Academy.
The name of Gillray’s publisher and print seller, Miss Hanna Humphrey, is inextricably associated with his; he lived in her house during all the years of his fame, and his prints were shown in the windows of her shop.
Gillray’s caricatures may be divided into two classes: political and social. The political caricatures form a historical record of the latter part of the reign of George III, whom Gillray called “Farmer George.” They were widely circulated throughout Britain and Europe. In this series George III, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, William Pitt, and Napoleon are trenchantly satirised; the latter two are featured in a celebrated cartoon, “The Plum Pudding in Danger.”
Among Gillray’s best satires on the king are “Anti-Saccharrites,” in which the king and queen propose to dispense with sugar to the great horror of the family, and the companion plates of Farmer George and his wife “Frying Sprats” and “Toasting Muffins.”
After 1807 Gillray declined mentally and eventually became insane.
Gillray’s plates were executed in etching with stipple and coloured by hand. They were produced in broadsheets for popular consumption, and perhaps this is one of the reasons for the spontaneity that makes them so lively and timely.
Biography from Encyclopædia Britannica
This is part 1 of a 6-part post on the works of James Gillray:
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| 1777 THE COUNTRY POLITICIANS. hand-coloured etching 10.8 x 16.7 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1778 FEMALE CURIOSITY. hand-coloured etching 34.1 x 25 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1778 JOHN BULL taking a Luncheon:- or-British Cooks cramming Old Grumble-Gizzard, with Bonne-Chére hand-coloured etching National Maritime Museum, London |
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| 1779 PADDY on HORSE-BACK etching 25.9 x 37.2 cm ( paper size ) |
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| 1779 PADDY on HORSE-BACK hand-coloured etching 25.9 x 37.2 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1779 SAWNEY in the BOG-HOUSE. hand-coloured etching 34.3 x 23.9 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1779 THE CHURCH MILITANT. ( William Markham ) hand-coloured etching 24.5 x 35.3 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1779 The LIBERTY of the SUBJECT. hand-coloured etching 25 x 35.3 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1779 THE WHORE'S LAST SHIFT. hand-coloured etching © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1779? BOMBARDINIAN. ( Sir Grey Cooper; Sir Robert Hamilton, 4th Bt ) hand-coloured etching 33.8 x 25.6 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 Sophia, Honour; & the Chambermaid stipple engraving 26.2 x 18.4 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 "Ah, grant a me von letel Bite" etching 16.6 x 14.2 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 "And ADAM had Power over all the Beasts of the Earth" hand-coloured etching 18.7 x 26.4 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 AQUILA HAPSBURGHIENSIS. ( Basil, 6th earl of Denbigh ) hand-coloured etching 29.2 x 22.2 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 ARGUS. hand-coloured etching 25.1 x 35.3 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 Emma Edgcumbe, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe hand-coloured etching 8.3 x 6.4 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 Lady Cecilia Johnston hand-coloured etching 7.5 x 6 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 JOHN BULL TRIUMPHANT. hand-coloured etching 24.7 x 35.4 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 NATIONAL DISCOURSE. ( attributed to ) hand-coloured etching 21.8 x 24.4 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1780 Tom Jones, Partridge and the Beggar stipple engraving 21.3 x 17.5 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1781 Les Plaisir du Mènage. hand-coloured etching 22.3 x 28.1 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1781 Mr C-m-l The Jolly Presenter of the Cannongate Kirk, in Edinburgh ( John Campbell ) hand-coloured etching 11.5 x 7.3 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1781 Pensionary VAN BERKEL etching and aquatint 24 x 18.8 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1781 SIGNOR PUPPY. First Catgut Scraper. ( Guiseppe Puppo ) hand-coloured etching 15.2 x 9.3 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1781 Sketched by Humphrey ( William Humphrey ) Spoil'd by Gillray ( William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne ) crayon manner engraving 25.8 x 19.5 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1781? Regardez moi. hand-coloured etching 28.1 x 37.4 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 A MEETING of UMBRELLAS. hand-coloured etching 22.2 x 17.4 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 A Modern Antique ( attributed to ) hand-coloured etching 17.6 x 12.4 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 CINCINNATUS in Retirement. ( Edmund Burke ) hand-coloured etching 25.1 x 34.6 cm cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 CRUMBS of COMFORT. ( Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke ) hand-coloured etching 24.9 x 34.6 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 GLORIA MUNDI, or- The Devil addressing the Sun hand-coloured etching 35.2 x 24.8 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 OLD WISDOM. Blinking at the Stars. ( Samuel Johnson ) hand-coloured etching 21.9 x 18.9 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 St. GEORGE & the Dragon. ( Charles James Fox; George Bridges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney ) hand-coloured etching 24.8 x 34.6 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 The discarded VICEROY silenced. ( Charles James Fox ) hand-coloured etching 18.5 x 20.7 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 The German Dancing Master. hand-coloured etching 18.8 x 24.3 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 The KETTLE hooting the PORRIDGE-POT. hand-coloured etching 24.6 x 34.9 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1782 William Parsons hand-coloured etching 7.5 x 69 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1783 Apollo and the Muses, inflicting Penance on Dr. Pomposo, round Parnassus ( Samuel Johnson ) hand-coloured etching 26.9 x 32.5 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1783 Head of an Old Man ( attributed to ) hand-coloured etching 10.9 x 91 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1783 The COALITION. ( Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford; Charles James Fox ) hand-coloured etching 34.5 x 24 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1783 The Golden Pippin. ( attributed to ) hand-coloured etching 10.6 x 8.4 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1785 L'Enfant trouvé stipple engraving 24.9 x 22.3 cm © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1785 WESTMINSTER SCHOOL. hand-coloured etching 35.4 x 25.6 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1786 LADY TERMAGANT FLAYBUM going to give her STEP SON a taste of her DESERT after Dinner etching 43.2 x 54.5 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1786 MY POLL & MY PARTNER JOE. hand-coloured stipple engraving 26.8 x 30.5 cm cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1786 Pialle d'Avoine, - Paille d'Avoine hand-coloured etching 21.6 x 19 cm ( paper size ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1786 The POLITICAL BANDIT assailing the SAVIOUR of INDIA hand-coloured etching 31.3 x 42.1 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1787 A noble Lord, on an approaching Peace, too busy to attend to the Expenditure of a Million of the Public Money hand-coloured etching © National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| 1787 LA BELLE ASSEMBLÉE hand-coloured etching 24.8 x 34.9 cm ( plate ) © National Portrait Gallery, London |