Douce’s satirical prints are being catalogued at the moment. With only one more folder to go, I have chosen the highlights below -they loosely relate to some topics of current interest: bad weather, economic recession, and major public celebrations involving fireworks:
Anonymous, The Contrast 1749, etching (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
This print, published by George Bickham the Younger, shows an Englishman biting his nails before the fireworks display organized to celebrate the 1749 Jubilee in St James’s Park, while a very smug Dutchman stands by him, his pockets overflowing with money and his exports carried all over the world in the well laden ships in the background (a contemporary cartoonist would make him German).
The second highlight is actually a drawing, probably a study for a satirical print that I have yet to find:
Anonymous, Vhat a disagreeable Vind -I hope I dont show my legs to the fellers!!, c. 1800-15 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
Douce identifies the plump lady in the striped dress that complains about the weather as ‘Mrs. B.’ -I wonder whether he could be referring to Mrs. Billington (Elizabeth Billington, rumoured to be one of George IV’s mistresses).