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.

John-Bull, baited by the dogs of excise

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James Gillray
1756-1815

John-Bull, baited by the dogs of excise

[London] : Pubd April 9th 1790, by H. Humphrey No 18 Old Bond Street, [1790]
etching and aquatint, hand colored
image: 251 x 407 mm; plate mark: 263 x 417 mm; sheet: 279 x 431 mm
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
1986.442
Notes
A British satire on efforts by William Pitt, George Rose, and some members of Parliament to impose new "Excise" duties on tobacco.
Provenance

From the library of Gordon N. Ray.

Summary

Print shows a bull, muzzled and blindfolded, with legs chained to a stump, being harassed by dogs (depicted with heads of members of Parliament). Pitt points at the bull, shouting, "At him! at him! Tally-ho, ho, ho." From his pocket hangs a paper inscribed 'New Excises intended upon Cyder, Flour, Hardware, Linnens, Woolens, Coals, Butchers Bakers Cheese-mo[ngers] Fish, Water'. Pitt and his dogs are hurrying from the Treasury, over the gate of which the word Treasury has been scored through by Rose, who stands on a ladder on the extreme right, painting the word 'Excise-Office' in large letters. A rose takes the place of his head; in his left hand is his paint-pot inscribed 'Kings' Yellow'. Edward Thurlow, also shown as a dog, registers his opposition to these "New Excise Fetters for John Bull" by urinating on tobacco leaves. Among the members of Parliament depicted are: William Wyndam Grenville, Henry Dundas, Charles Lennox Richmond, Charles Jenkinson, Richard Pepper Arden, Sir Charles Pratt Camden, and possibly Francis Osborne Carmarthen.

Associated names
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Ray, Gordon N. (Gordon Norton), 1915-1986, former owner.
Classification
Department