Taking physick, or, The news of shooting the King of Sweden

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James Gillray
1756-1815
Taking physick, or, The news of shooting the King of Sweden
[London] : Pubd. April 11th 1792 by H. Humphrey, N. 18 Old Bond Street, [1792]
etching, hand colored
image: 242 x 248 mm; plate: 248 x 348 mm; sheet: 262 x 360 mm
Peel 2776
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

By James Gillray.

Summary: 

Print shows the King and Queen, sitting side by side in a latrine, above which is part of the royal arms, the lion looking down apprehensively and excreting. They look in horror towards Pitt, who rushes in, terrified, holding out a paper inscribed 'News from Sweden', and saying, "Another Monarch done over!" The King rises slightly, holding his stomach, and saying, "What ? Shot ? What ? what ? what ? Shot! shot! shot!" He wears a nightcap tied with a ribbon inscribed 'Honi Soit qui M . . . '. The Queen is a shrunken and huddled figure; both have grotesquely agitated expressions.

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