3 May 2007
18:00 BST
London, New Bond Street
The Tony Banks Collection: Political art and memorabilia belonging to the late Lord Stratford
Back to auction 15506
The Tony Banks Collection: Political art and memorabilia belonging to the late Lord Stratford
Back to auction 15506
Richard Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1776-1839); George Nugent Temple Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (1753-1813); Edward Smith Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752-1834); Maria Anne Fitzherbert (née Smythe) (1756-1837); Charles James Fox (1749-1806); Elizabeth Bridget Fox (née Cane) (1750-1842); King George IV (1762-1830); William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834); Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845); Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1754-1826); Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863); Thomas Lewis O'Beirne, Bishop of Meath(1748-1823); Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816); Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (1757-1844); William Windham (1750-1810)
'Visiting the Sick' by James Gillray (British, 1756-1815)
Etching, with aquatint, with hand-colouring, published by Hannah Humphrey, 28 July 1806
26.3 x 36.2cm (10¼ x 14¼in) (Image)
Etching, with aquatint, with hand-colouring, published by Hannah Humphrey, 28 July 1806
26.3 x 36.2cm (10¼ x 14¼in) (Image)
Sold for
£1,920
inc. premium
Footnotes
- Fox became ill in June 1806 after speaking passionately in a debate in favour of the abolition of slavery. This cartoon shows him attended at his sickbed by the Prince of Wales and his morganatic wife Mrs Fitzherbert, a Catholic here disguised as an abbess. Richard Sheridan, the playwright and Fox's erstwhile friend appears to the right hand side, perhaps plotting to succeed him in the event of his death, a prophetic portrayal since he won Foxs Westminster seat at the next election. Fox's wife is show in a faint on a chair to the side. At the door, Lord Grenville and Addington, Foxs colleagues in the Talents Ministry are eagerly anticipating his death and their own greater political prominence.
Foxs death on September 13th at the Duke and Duchess of Devonshires Palladian villa Chiswick House makes this an especially bitter prophecy and lends the print an especial poignancy. Fox had been unwell since as early as 1802, and the cause of death was given as dropsy hence the swelling shown here by Gillray - and the general abuse of his body engendered by his riotous early living. His last words to his wife were: It dont signify, my dearest, dearest Liz.
Category: Fine Art / Portrait Miniatures
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