Uncorking old sherry / js. Gillray, inv. & fecit. William pitt stands in the house of commons, facing the opposition which is represented by bottles containing the heads of the most well-known opposition leaders including fox, tierney, windham and grey. At pitt's feet is a bottle containing the head of sidmouth. Pitt is uncorking a bottle containing the head of sheridan, the contents of which spray up and on which appear inscriptions describing excessive oratory, apparently by the opposition. This was one of the most popular of gillray's political prints. 1 print: etching, hand-colored. Caption reads:
published march 10 1805 by h humphrey. St james street london
the honble gent. Tho' he does not very often address the house, yet when he does, he always thinks proper to pay off all arrears, & like a bottle just uncorked bursts all at one into an explosion of froth & air;—then, whatever might for a length of time lie lurking & corked up in his mind. Whatever he thinks of himself or hears in conservation, — whatever he takes many days or weeks to sleep upon, the whole commonplacebook of the interval is sure to burst out at once, stored with studied-jokes, sarcasms, arguments, invectives, & every thing else, which his mind or memory are capable of embracing whether they have any relation or not to the subject under discussion - see mr ptts speech on y gent defence bill. March 6th 1805. Date: 10 March 1805.
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