The National Assembly, or, Meeting of the three estates / designed by Satire ; delineated by Pythagoras, and executed, according to his system, in the Great Exhibition Room, Old Palace Yard.

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William Dent
The National Assembly, or, Meeting of the three estates / designed by Satire ; delineated by Pythagoras, and executed, according to his system, in the Great Exhibition Room, Old Palace Yard.
etching, touched with blue watercolor
image: 220 x 417 mm; sheet: 255 x 417 cm
Peel 3381
Published: 
[London] : Published as the Act directs by W. Dent, Jany 22 1790
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Title from item.
Cartoon criticizing William Pitt's prolific creation of peers and the perceived growing power of the House of Lords.
With notes numbered 1 through 36 below the design identifying the numerous individuals depicted in the cartoon.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.

Summary: 

A crowded design representing the three estates (incorrectly) as King, Lords, and Commons in Parliament, the title evidently suggested by the meeting of the States-General in France. The members are travestied as animals, the principal ones having human heads and numbers which refer to notes beneath the design. A low barrier (left) divides the Commons from the Lords; on the extreme right is the throne, on which, curled up and asleep, is a lion with the head of George III.

Catalog link: 
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Century: 
18th century
Classification: 
Print
Department: 
Drawings and Prints