British invalid driving foreign animals from proceeding to the camp.

(William Austin)

British invalid driving foreign animals from proceeding to the camp.

London, Robert Wilkinson, Jan 1^st 1780

Etching

Old hand colouring

270 x 360 mm

Laid on old card, some rubbing to surface

£180

A rare caricature.

On the left is a troupe of men with performing bears and monkeys. On a bear’s back sits a monkey. The cavalcade is starting back in alarm at the sight of a countryman and his wife advancing towards them across a stream. The men with the animals, from their ragged foppishness and lean and vagabondish appearance, are evidently intended for Frenchmen. The bear leader, wearing a bag-wig and ruffled shirt, plays a trumpet. Behind is a monkey dressed as a ‘petit-maître’ with a sword and bag-wig. The countryman (right) threatens the troupe with a crutch, his hat has fallen into the stream. The woman rides a donkey which is braying at the bears; she has let go the ducks and hens which she was carrying, a basket of eggs is being upset and the contents of a barrel are pouring out. A dog barks violently. In the distance are tents. Beneath the title is engraved “You vile pack of Vagabonds what do you mean”.