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A French gentleman of the court of Louis XVIth, a French gentleman of the court of Égalité, / Js. Gillray, inv. & fec.

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James Gillray
1756-1815

A French gentleman of the court of Louis XVIth, a French gentleman of the court of Égalité, / Js. Gillray, inv. & fec.

[London] : Pubd August 15th. 1799, by H. Humphrey 27 St James's Street, [1799]
etching, hand colored
sheet: 257 x 358 mm, trimmed to image
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
1986.303
Provenance

From the library of Gordon N. Ray.

Summary

Print shows an elderly courtier of the 'ancien régime' bowing low and exclaiming: 'Je suis voire tres humble Serviteur'. He wears a high toupet wig and a large black bag (which flies into the air as he bows) with a solitaire ribbon round the neck and a small tricorne hat is in his right hand. His successor stands in back view, legs astride, hands thrust deep into his coat-pockets, a bludgeon projecting vertically from the left pocket. His head, with blunt, coarse features, is turned in profile to the left, to say: "Baiser mon Cu [sic]". He has shaggy hair with a long pigtail queue, and wears a large cocked hat, one peak on his neck, round which is a clumsy neck-cloth. His coat is loose with broad collar and projecting revers. His breeches are tied beneath the knee, showing striped stockings above very wrinkled boots with grotesquely pointed toes.

Associated names
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Ray, Gordon Norton, 1915-1986, former owner.
Classification
Department
Century prints