Affability, London, 1795.
"Well Friend, Where A'You Going, Hay?" Gillray, James [1756-1815]. Affability. [London: Hannah Humphrey, c. 1795]. 13-1/4" x 9-1/4" (33.6 x 23.5 cm) hand-colored etching and aquatint (measured to plate marks) on wove paper, without watermark, attractively mounted and matted. Light even toning to margins. A good impression with vivid colors. $950. * A brilliant, biting caricature of King George III and Queen Charlotte demonstrating their famed-and often forced-condescension toward the working class. The scene is well-summarized by the British Museum: "The King in profile to the right, with the Queen holding his right arm, leans towards a startled yokel who clutches his hat and a bucket... All are caricatured. The King wears riding-dress, with a broad-brimmed hat and a spencer over his coat. He stands as if knock-kneed, his legs awkwardly splayed out. The Queen is dwarfish, wearing a hood over her hat and a shapeless cloak... The yokel, wearing smock and gaiters, has the staring eyes, lantern jaws, and gaping mouth characteristic of Gillray's sansculottes." Beneath the title, Gillray mocks the King's famously rapid-fire, repetitive speech pattern: "'Well, Friend, where a' you going, Hay? - what's your Name, hay? - where d'ye Live, hay? - hay?" Hannah Humphrey [c. 1745-1818] was London's premier printseller of the late 18th century. As noted by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, while her shop originally stocked a mixed range of fashionable high-quality portraits, she increasingly specialized in graphic satire. In 1791, James Gillray-widely considered the father of the political cartoon-began working for her exclusively, making Humphrey's shop the absolute epicenter of British caricature. Clayton, Timothy, "Hannah Humphrey," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed online). BM Satires 8616.
Price: $950.00
Book number 71377