The royal ass / York sculpsit ; Stewart delt.

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The royal ass / York sculpsit ; Stewart delt.
etching
image: 143 x 209 mm; sheet: 163 x 220 mm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2440
Published: 
[London] : Pub accg. to act, May 20, 1780 by M Darly (39) Strand, [1780]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

"This is evidently inspired by the propaganda of Lord George Gordon and the Protestant Association, it being one of their tenets that in giving his assent to the Catholic Relief Act of 1778 the king had broken his coronation oath; see BMSat 5534, &c. The artists' names imply that the 'popish' policy of the king was inspired by Bute and furthered by Markham."--Curatorial commentary, British Museum online catalog.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.

Summary: 

An ass, wearing a crown, is being led by a man who has the legs and tail of a devil, towards a dome and two steeples intended for St. Peter's and inscribed "Rome". The man, evidently Bute, is dressed partly in tartan, and is saying "This is my Ass & I'll lead it where I please." Behind, a bishop wearing a mitre and a long gown, flourishes a birch-rod and points at the animal's hind-quarters, saying, "Lead on my Lord I'll drive the beast along." This is Markham, the unpopular Archbishop of York (see BMSat 5553, &c). His birch-rod indicates that he had been head master of Westminster School; he was also (1771-6) preceptor to the Prince of Wales and his brother. Two little boys, one wearing the ribbon of an order, stand by Markham and point at the ass; one says to the other "Where are they driving Papa too [sic]." Cf. British Museum online catalog.

Classification: 
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