A caricature of George IV

HEATH, William.

Parish Characters in Ten Plates, by Paul Pry Esq.r Pl. 1st. M.r George King - the Parish Overseer.
London: Thomas Mclean, 1829. Etching with original hand colour. 350 x 250mm.

Some toning of paper, damp stains lower right, stitch holes in left margin.

A full length caricature portrait of George IV, wearing a top-hat, double-breasted tail-coat, knee-breeches and gloves. In one hand is a tasselled cane; in the other a Rates book. Sticking out of his pocket is a handkerchief on which is a reversed copy of Heath's caricature of the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, 'The Man Wot Drives the Sovereign'. The king says 'Don't talk to me of Radicals haven't I done evry-thing in my power to promote the good of the Parish _ever since I've been in office-eh?'.
Just over a year after this caricatures was published George died.
In 1827 William Heath (1794-1840), a former captain of Dragoons, began issuing caricatures as Paul Pry (a character in John Poole's comedy of 1825 that became synonymous with a very inquisitive person), with the emblem of a small man holding a walking stick. Because of their popularity, other publishers either copied them or used the emblem on their own satires, causing Heath's publisher to state on this plate that he was the 'sole publisher of P. Prys caricatures _ none are original with T. Mcleans name'. This was not sufficient: shortly after this series was issued Heath started using his own name.


Stock ID : 23361