Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

"Crumbs of comfort", or, Old-orthodox restoring consolation to his fallen children

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James Gillray
1756-1815

"Crumbs of comfort", or, Old-orthodox restoring consolation to his fallen children

Published

[London] : [publisher not identified], [1782]

etching, hand colored
image: 227 x 323 mm; sheet: 247 x 336 mm
Peel 2407
Notes
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.
By James Gillray; a variant impression includes the names of the subjects etched below the image and the name of the artist within the plate at lower right, along with a date of Sept. 1782.
Remnants of imprint burnished from plate at lower right: 178[2?] ... E. D'Achery [i.e. Elizabeth D'Archery] St. James Str ...
Provenance

Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.

Summary

Print shows the Devil standing at the center of a mountain top with outstretched wings, dressed in lawyers wig and bands, but with horns on his head and feet with claws. On the left Fox kneels, eagerly receiving from Satan a dice box and dice, an allusion to his notorious gambling habit, while on the right Burke receives a scourge and rosary, a reference to his supposed Catholicism. A satire on the resignation of Fox and Burke after Shelburne's appointment.

Associated names
Darchery, Elizabeth, approximately 1739-1819, publisher.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department