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The French King's scheme for an invasion
[London] : Sold in Mary's Buildings colour'd, 1756.
etching, hand colored
image: 7 5/8 x 12 13/16 inches (193 x 325 mm); plate mark: 8 5/8 x 13 1/4 inches (219 x 337 mm); sheet: 9 1/16 x 13 11/16 inches (230 x 347 mm)
Peel 1221
Notes
Below image: A false creation proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain I see the [sic] yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw it is the bloody business which informs this to mine eyes.
Provenance
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Summary
Print shows a caricature of King Louis XV, with his profile distorted to emulate the contours of the French coastline along the Channel, with Dunkirk and Boulogne marked and the abbreviation "Lud-Mag" (i.e. Ludi Magister?) printed above in large letters. From the top of the King's head, a line of ships and flat bottomed boats carrying troops and munitions stretches to the horizon line, labelled with the words "Wither wilt thou". Two British ships labelled Anson and Hawk flank the French coast, while a third, underwritten with the words "Pull by the nose" fires on the King's nose at far left. The King says: O! O! O! me d'Pompedour.
Associated names
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department
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