Polonius

James Gillray

Polonius

London, H. Humphrey, May 18th. 1795

Etching

Original hand colouring.

250 x 350 mm

£580

Salisbury, as Lord Chamberlain, holding his wand, walks stiffly before the King and Queen across one of the courts of St. James’s Palace, evidently on the way to a Drawing Room. He bends forward from the waist, holding a small three-cornered hat in his left hand; his gold key of office is attached to the flap of his embroidered coat-pocket by a bow of ribbon. The Queen (right), holding a fan, takes the King’s left arm; he looks down at her; both are slightly caricatured. They are followed by four princesses, charming girls, slightly sketched, with feathers in their hair, who are on the farther side of an archway through which the King and Queen have just passed. The procession, receding in perspective, advances diagonally from left to right. Salisbury was satirized by Gillray in BMSat 6115 (1782) for a wooden appearance and vacant expression. Caricatures of Salisbury as Lord Chamberlain generally appear to derive from this print. BM 8649