“The Friend of the People” & his Petty-New-Tax-Gatherer, paying John Bull a visit

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

This satirical print explores, in an allegorical manner, the theme of the suffering of the British people represented by John Bull under the heavy taxation and debt imposed by the British Government during the war against Napoleon. Bull first appeared as a literary character in John Arbuthnot’s five pamphlets published in 1712, which were collected and reprinted later as ‘The History of John Bull’. He subsequently came to represent an allegory of national character in satirical prints. John Bull is typically depicted as an overweight man with rosy cheeks, wearing a blue overcoat and a red shirt. He is often invoked within arguments about the relationship between consumption and taxation.

James Gillray was a draughtsman, etcher and engraver of caricatures. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools and learned the technique of stipple engraving from William Wynne Ryland and Francesco Bartolozzi. Gillray produced several notable plates in this medium to his own designs and after paintings by Northcote, while simultaneously establishing himself as a caricaturist. By the end of 1791, all his caricatures were published by Mrs Hannah Humphrey, with whom he lived for the rest of his life. In 1807, his eyesight began to deteriorate and in the same year he had a nervous breakdown. He died at his home in Westminster, aged 58.

People

Charles James Fox (1749 - 1806), Henry, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Petty-Fitzmaurice (1780 - 1863)

Places

Subjects

wagon, barrel, quill, satire, townscape/cityscape, horse, cat, boy, baby, man, woman, girl, 19th century costume, coat, boots, hat, broom, beer, working class, Prime Minister, John Bull, cartoon, drinking fountain, signage, shop-front, street, shop, house, cobbles, door, window, chimney, chair, table (as Subject)

Materials & Techniques

etching, coloured etching

Artist

James Gillray (1756 - 1815)

Title

“The Friend of the People” & his Petty-New-Tax-Gatherer, paying John Bull a visit

Date

28 May 1806

Medium

Coloured etching

Dimensions

height: 45.80 cm, width: 30.50 cm

Acquisition

Transferred from HM Revenue and Customs, December 2012

Provenance

Acquired by the Inland Revenue, Somerset House, 1948; recorded by GAC 1955; transferred to GAC 2012

GAC number

3222