Morning preparation
[London] : Pubd. Feby. 25th, 1785, by H. Humphrey, New Bond Street, [1785]
A companion print to George 6791.
By James Gillray; a later recorded impression is dated Apr. 25, 1785.
Library's copy trimmed with loss of most of the etched imprint.
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Fox, North, and Burke in a poverty-stricken room: North (left), seated in a low arm-chair, leans back yawning, arms above his head, legs stretched out. On the wall above his head hangs a broken pair of bellows, emblem of his Borean blast. Burke, (right), very thin, seated on a three-legged stool, is mending the breeches which he has taken off. Behind his head is a spider in the centre of a cobweb. Between and behind them stands Fox, in the attitude of an orator, right arm raised, rehearsing a speech and regarding himself in a cracked mirror (right) which reflects his anxious and gloomy expression. Above his head a dark lantern, emblem of a conspirator, hangs on the wall. Cf. British Museum online catalog.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.