Spanish patriots attacking the French banditti - loyal Britons lending a lift

Details

James Gillray (1756-1815)
Spanish patriots attacking the French banditti - loyal Britons lending a lift
inscribed indistinctly 'Buonaparte ...' (lower centre) with inscription 'by Gillray' (on the reverse)
pen and brown ink, grey, brown and red wash, heightened with bodycolour, watermark 'D & P/1808'
11½ x 18 5/8 in. (29.2 x 47.3 cm.)

Provenance

Mrs Humphrey, widow of the print dealer H. Humphrey; Foster's, 14 July 1835, among lots 398-479.
Minto Wilson.
Mrs H. Blake Tyler; Sotheby's, London, 6 July 1964, lot 42.
Theodore Besterman; Christie's, London, 17 November 1981, lot 71.

Literature

M. D. George, Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires ... in the British Museum, vol. VIII, 1978, no. 11010.
T. Wright and R. Evans, Gillray, no. 348.

Exhibited

London, Leger Galleries, English Watercolours and Drawings from the Collection of Theodore Besterman, 1969, no. 30.

Engraved

By the artist, published H. Humphrey, August 1808.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium This lot is subject to Collection and Storage charges

Lot Essay

The present drawing is a preparatory sketch for the published caricature and shows the defeat of the French army under Baylen by Castanos, at the foot of the Sierra Morena, in July 1808 (see M.D. George, op.cit., vol. VIII, 1978, no. 11010).

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