A Smoking Club | James Gillray | Taylor & Francis eBooks, Reference Wo

Image

Original Image Dimensions 18"x24"

Source The Duncan Wu Collection

DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9780815394266-ROM150-1

Description The smokers in this caricature of 1793 are: (from left to right) Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (1757-1844), speaker of the House of Commons; William Pitt (1759-1806), Tory Prime Minister; Charles James Fox (1749-1806), leader of the Whig party; Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), secretary of state; Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), dramatist and Whig orator. That the protagonists are blowing smoke into each others’ faces which is indicative of their hostility in debate. The caricature was published twelve days after France had declared war on Britain—a war that would last, with an interlude for the Treaty of Amiens, until 1815.