The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver (G. 10227)

Details

James Gillray (1756-1815)
The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver (G. 10227)
etching with hand colouring, 1803, on wove, published by H. Humphrey, London; and The New Minister or as it should be, etching with hand colouring by the same hand, 1806, published by Walker and Cornhill, London
P. 355 x 255 mm., S. 380 x 280 mm. (2)

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Lot Essay

This famous caricature is the first of a pair of prints conceived by Gillray on the subject of Bonaparte as 'Gulliver.' Napoleon's diminuative stature was frequently satirised by lampoonists and this is taken one step further here by the artist, who, in taking inspiration from the novel by Jonathan Swift (1726), enlarges King George III placing him in the role of 'Brobdingnag,' sovereign of a kingdom of giants. He scrutinises the dwarf Bonaparte through a magnifying glass (much as one would examine a print), comparing him to 'one of the most pernicious, little-odious...reptiles, that nature ever suffer'd to crawl upon the surface of the Earth.'

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