A whale with the head of the Prince Regent spouts two streams inscribed "The liquor of oblivion" and "The dew of favour", referring to his desertion of the Whigs and to favours bestowed on the Tories. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1812.

1812

1 print : etching, with watercolour ; image 17.8 x 50.4 cm

The prince of whales or the fisherman at anchor. G. Cruikshank sculp. The Regent makes amorous eyes at Lady Hertford, shown as a mermaid. Her husband clutches a pair of antler's horns, indicating that he is a cuckold. The whale is oblivious of his Privy Purse, McMahon, as a swordfish bleeding him of money. Among the Whigs, Sheridan (far left) is represented with the body of a hippopotamus; his face and nose are blotchy and red, suggesting alcoholism. Among the Tories (right), the Chancellor of the Exchequer Spencer Perceval stands in a fishing boat with baskets of fish occupied by Henry Addington, Lord Sidmouth ("Gudgeons") and Robert Dundas, Lord Melville ("Flat fish"). Behind, the colonnade separating Carlton House from Pall Mall

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, London 1949, vol. 9, no. 11877

Wellcome Collection 38413i