Breadcrumbs Section. Click here to navigate to respective pages.
Image
Image
Political Ravishment
DOI link for Political Ravishment
Political Ravishment
Original Image Dimensions 18"x24"
Source The Duncan Wu Collection
Description Prime Minister William Pitt (identifiable by his long pointed nose) puckers his lips
for the old lady of Threadneedle Street—the source for the current nickname for The
Bank of England. Appropriately she is dressed in one pound notes and sits on a
padlocked chest. In February 1797 fears of a French invasion led people to convert
their money into gold, leaving the Bank with reserves of around a million pounds. In
response, Pitt passed the Bank Restriction Act, which removed the requirement for
the Bank to convert notes into gold. His manipulation of bank policy is the subject
of Gillray’s image.