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.

National conveniences / Js. Gy. dn. et ft.

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James Gillray
1756-1815

National conveniences / Js. Gy. dn. et ft.

Published

[London] : H. Humphrey, 1796.

etching
image: 34.6 x 24.5 cm; plate: 35.5 x 25.4 cm; sheet: 37 x 26.9 cm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2922
Provenance

Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.

Summary

Four designs on one pl. [1] 'English Convenience - the Water Closet'. A grossly obese alderman of repulsive appearance sits full-face, clasping his sides. He wears his gown and chain, one gouty leg is swathed in bandages. On the wall behind his head are two placards: 'Bill of Fare, - Turtle Soup Fish Poultry H . . .' and a broadside, 'Roast Beef of old England headed by a sirloin'. [2] 'Scotch Convenience - the Bucket'. A woman seated in back view on a pair of tongs across a bucket in some sort of permanent shelter composed of ramshackle planks. On this are two papers: 'The Sweets of Edinbro' to the Tune of Tweedside' (cf. BMSat 5941) and 'Croudie a Scotch Reel'. In the foreground are pigs and poultry. [3] 'French Convenience - le Commodites'. A pretty young woman, full-face, in a latrine with three apertures. She crouches with one foot on the ground, one on the seat. On the wall are two papers: 'Caira nouvelle chanson' and 'Soupe Maigre petit Chanson.' [4] 'Dutch Convenience - the Lake'. A stout man (? or woman) in back view sits on a rail, smoking a pipe. In the foreground is shallow water with ducks. Behind and in close proximity are town houses with high crow-stepped gables.

Associated names
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, engraver.
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department