Fighting for the Dunghill; - or - Jack Tar settling Buonaparte.
- Title:
- Fighting for the Dunghill; - or - Jack Tar settling Buonaparte.
- Alternate Title:
- Fighting for the Dunghill; - or - Jack Tar settling Buonaparte.
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Gillray, James
- Date:
- 1798
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2440.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2440_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- Before 1800
- Subject:
- Napoleon
Pictorial
Satirical - Measurement:
- 28 x 35 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- At the end of the 18th century, "Jack Tar" was the image of the rugged British sailor, the backbone of the nation's naval power. This 1798 print by James Gillray, "Fighting for the Dunghill - or - Jack Tar settling Buonaparte," has been called "the most celebrated incarnation of the loyal and fearsome sailor." Davey 2012, 3. As the threat of war with France looms, the iconic sailor - bearing a strong resemblance to George III - sits atop Britain and Europe throwing punches at a frail Napoleon. Buonaparte's nose is bleeding profusely and he seems close to tumbling off.
One contemporary critic has written that "Gillray’s greatest print . . . appeared at first sight to be a simple piece of jingoist triumphalism: Jack Tar, the naval avatar of John Bull, sits astride the globe, biffing Bonaparte and giving him a bloody nose. The title, though, gives Gillray’s game away. It’s called Fighting for the Dunghill. That interplay between text and image, with irony and nuance undercutting each other, is exactly how a political cartoon should work – and this is why Gillray remains great.” Rowson 2015.
James Gillray was "the first master draughtsman to take caricature as a primary occupation. More than any other, [he] lifted his calling from a trade into an art . . . cross-fertilized the framework with parody, fantasy and burlesque, enormously extending its range and depth." Hill 1965, 1. For most of Gillray's adult life, his work was in enormous demand; "Gillray's plates were collector's items from the moment of publication." Following his death, and particularly after the Regency, his work became the target of Victorian moralists who attacked it as crude and depraved. Ibid. 2-6. Gillray is today again regarded, in the words of one critic, as the "king of the cartoon." Rowson 2015.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Source:
- Published by Hannah Humphrey, London, November 20, 1798. This copy is from an edition printed in 1851 from the original plates by Henry George Bohn.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.