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George Cruikshank
1792-1878
Publication
Published
[London] : [Printed by and for William Hone, Ludgate-Hill], [1820]
wood engraving
187 x 103 mm
Peel 2081
Notes
Printed directly below image: Give me but the Liberty of the Press, and I will give to the minister a venal House of Peers. / Sheridan.
Printed below image and quotation: PUBLICATION. / As you bright orb, that vivifies our ball, / Sees through our system and illumines all;
Detached from The Queen's matrimonial ladder : a national toy with fourteen step scenes and illustrations in verse, with eighteen other cuts (London: William Hone, 1820).
Trimmed, with only quotation text still attached.
Printed below image and quotation: PUBLICATION. / As you bright orb, that vivifies our ball, / Sees through our system and illumines all;
Detached from The Queen's matrimonial ladder : a national toy with fourteen step scenes and illustrations in verse, with eighteen other cuts (London: William Hone, 1820).
Trimmed, with only quotation text still attached.
Provenance
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Summary
King George IV, masked and dressed as a comic Guy Faux, holding a dark lantern containing a leech (Leach) and a bundle of matches, is led by a lame and battered Cupid towards a doorway (right) within which is a huge (green) bag. From a window over the door the Queen looks out at him through a lorgnette. Above the door is a fire insurance plaque: 'Albion . Life . Assurance' [a company founded in 1805]. A beam of light descends upon the King from an eye in the upper left corner of the design. This encloses a tiny printing-press.
Associated names
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Hone, William, 1780-1842, publisher.
Hone, William, 1780-1842. Queen's matrimonial ladder.
Hone, William, 1780-1842, publisher.
Hone, William, 1780-1842. Queen's matrimonial ladder.
Artist
Classification
Department
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