The Saveall or – Economy

William Heath (Paul Pry)
The Saveall or – Economy-
London, T McLean 1828
Etching
Original hand colouring
350 x 240 mm
Trimmed to border.
£180
Wellington, in his blue coat and white trousers, stands between Aspley House and the Triumphal Arch on Constitution Hill, still with scaffolding ( built by Decimus Burton in 1828 and afterwards temporarily disfigured by the equestrian statue of Wellington). He holds a large flat candlestick on which is a saveall (a device for burning a candle to save the last drop of wax). On the saveall is an inverted ducal coronet from which projects a vice on which is the tiny lighted taperwhich the Duke is about to extinguish with his glossy top-hat. The rays are inscribed £15 pr. An , £25 pr An. Behind a hoarding masons and hodmne are working on a scaffold against the new pillars of Aspley House, on which is a placard; Letters & Parcels to be left in Downing St. In the background, behind hoarding, are Windsor Castle and Buckinham Palace., Partly hidden by the Arch and placarded Plans received here for Pulling Down.
A satire on the building expenses at Windsor and Buckingham Palace.
BM 15563