File:Temperance enjoying a frugal meal (BM 1851,0901.617).jpg

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Temperance enjoying a frugal meal   (Wikidata search (Cirrus search) Wikidata query (SPARQL)  Create new Wikidata item based on this file)
Artist

Print made by: James Gillray

Published by: Hannah Humphrey
Title
Temperance enjoying a frugal meal
Description
English: A companion print to BMSat 8112. The King sits in an armchair in profile to the left, bending forward to eat a boiled egg, holding the egg-cup in his left hand. Opposite him, and partly concealed by the left margin, sits the Queen, avidly stuffing salad into her mouth. On the small round table are a bowl of salad and two jugs of oil and vinegar. Everything in the room denotes miserliness: the King has tucked the end of the table-cloth into his collar to protect his dress; his breeches are patched; his chair is swathed in protective coverings, his feet rest on a mat which protects the carpet. A richly chased flagon, decorated with the royal arms, which stands on the ground beside him, is inscribed 'Aqua Regis'. The handle of the bell-pull is covered by a bag.


Behind the King's back, and on the extreme right, is a fire-place; in the grate is a vase containing snowdrops, holly, and mistletoe, to show that although it is winter there is no fire (cf. BMSat 7322). A grotesque figure in relief squats above the oval grate, his hands in a muff. On the chimney-piece stand a small pair of scales such as were then used for weighing guineas; see BMSat 5128, &c, resembling those held by the Queen in BMSat 8081; a candelabra formed of a woman's figure, 'Munificence', holding two empty cornucopias; one candle is intact, the other has burned low and is covered by an extinguisher surmounted by a crown. Above the chimney-piece is a picture: 'The fall of Manna', in which the Bible story is realistically depicted: round cakes (? or coins) descend from Heaven and are caught in sacks by Jews wearing contemporary dress; behind are tents and a mountain. Above the King's head hangs an empty picture frame inscribed 'The Triumph of Benevolence'. Below it hangs an oval miniature of the King in profile to the right, inscribed 'The Man of Ross' (John Kyrle (1637-1724), noted for frugality and charity, see 'D.N.B.'), and above it is the lower arc of another empty frame inscribed 'Epicurus'. In the foreground (right) behind the King is an iron-bound and padlocked chest on and beside which are three books: 'Life of Old Elwes' (the miser, a popular work by Topham), 'Dr Cheyne on the benefits of a Spare Diet', and 'Essay on the dearness of Provisions' (cf. BMSat 6993). Behind the Queen is the heavily bolted door of a strong-room; on it hangs a placard: 'Table of Interest, 5 pr Cent. 5 Million . . . 250,000' (&c, the total interest forming a colossal but scarcely legible amount). Above the door is the lower part of an empty frame: 'Parting of the Loaves & Fishes.' 28 July 1792


Hand-coloured etching
Depicted people Associated with: Charlotte, Queen of George III
Date 1792
date QS:P571,+1792-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Medium paper
Dimensions
Height: 364 millimetres
Width: 292 millimetres
institution QS:P195,Q6373
Current location
Prints and Drawings
Accession number
1851,0901.617
Notes

(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VI, 1938) The supposed miserliness of the King and Queen was a favourite subject of caricature, see BMSat 7836, &c. The frugality of the King's meals was well known.

Grego, 'Gillray', p. 149-50 (small copy); Wright and Evans, No. 86. Reprinted, 'G.W.G.', 1830. Reproduced, Fuchs, after p. 248.
Source/Photographer https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1851-0901-617
Permission
(Reusing this file)
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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current01:53, 12 May 2020Thumbnail for version as of 01:53, 12 May 20201,280 × 1,600 (790 KB)Copyfraud (talk | contribs)British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1792 #5,581/12,043

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