The dog tax., James Gillray, 1796

Two dogs with human faces hang from a gibbet inscribed 'not paid for'; two others stand beneath, looking up at them with complacent triumph, these are 'to be paid for'. The gibbet is formed of two uprights with a cross-bar. The pendent dogs who face each other in profile with expressions of despair are sheridan (left) and fox (right); their necks are linked by a chain. Fox has a fox's brush (as in bmsat 8796). He urinates upon dundas who is immediately beneath him, facing pitt. Dundas is a fat mongrel, pitt a lean greyhound (as in bmsat 8797). 12 april 1796 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1796. Dimensions: Height: 359 mm; Width: 250 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. Collection: British Museum. The dog tax. (BM J,3.84)