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.

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
Notes
By James Gillray.
Provenance

Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.

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.

Associated names
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department
Century prints