The poll
London : Publishd. by Wm. Humphrey, No. 227 Strand, [not before 27 April 1784]
Printmaker from British Museum catalogue.
Reissue by Humphrey of a plate originally published by Elizabeth Darchery; previous imprint statement has been burnished from plate and a new one etched in its place.
Date of publication based on earlier state with the imprint "Pub. April 27th, 1784, by E. Darchery, St. James's Street." Cf. New York Public Library, Caricatures collected by Horace Walpole (catalog ID: b16513354), Walpole 64.
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
"A see-saw representing the state of the poll between Fox and Wray, Mrs. Hobart (left) seated on one end, the Duchess of Devonshire (right) on the other, in front of the polling-booth in Covent Garden. Mrs. Hobart, enormously fat, quite out-weighs the Duchess, and is, moreover, held down by Lord Hood who kneels behind her (left), while Sir Cecil Wray stands beside him watching the contest with an enigmatical expression. Fox stands behind the Duchess trying to hold down her end of the plank, but in vain; his uplifted left arm and closed eyes express the despair which he actually felt in the early days of polling (Russell, 'Corr. of Fox', ii. 267). The ladies face each other astride the plank, their arms outstretched, their bosoms bare. The plank rests on an irregular stone post. An excited crowd, very freely sketched, watches from the hustings and from below them; they scream encouragement to the rivals, waving their hats. Over the head of Wray is a playbill, 'The Rival Candidates Farce'; behind the Duchess is another, 'Duke and no Duke Play'. The former was a comic opera by Henry Bate (afterwards Bate-Dudley), first played 1775, the latter a farce by Tate, 1605."--British Museum online catalogue.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.