Destruction of the French gun-boats- or- Little Bonney & his Friend Talley in high Glee., James Gillray, 1803

Napoleon sits on the shoulder of talleyrand gleefully peering through a large rolled document at the channel, where the french flotilla is being destroyed by shells from british ships. Talleyrand stands behind the gun embrasures of a fortress on a cliff at whose base the gunboats are foundering. He wears a general's uniform with a long cloak; the crown of his cocked hat is a bishop's mitre. He holds bonaparte's legs, grinning delightedly. Napoleon's document is 'talleyrand's plan for invading great britain'; he says: "o my dear talley, what a glorious sight! - we've worked up johnny bull into a fine passion! - my good fortune never leaves me! - i shall now get rid of a hundred- thousand french cut throats whom i was so afraid of! - o my dear talley, this beats the egyptian poisoning hollow! - bravo, johnny! - pepper 'em, johnny!" on a flag (l. ) behind the pair are a skull and cross-bones, the skull looking down with a sinister stare. On the horizon is the english coast, with dover castle on a cliff. 22 november 1803 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1803. Dimensions: Height: 250 mm; ; Width: 368 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Napoléon I, Emperor of the French. Collection: British Museum. Destruction of the French gun-boats- or- Little Bonney & his Friend Talley in high Glee. (BM 1868,0808.7215)