James Gillray - The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in Danger

James Gillray 1757-1815

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in Danger by James Gillray

 22 May 1797

You may know The Bank of England as The Old Lady, a name which was coined in a 1797 cartoon by James Gillray entitled Political Ravishment or The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in Danger.

It attacks Prime Minister William Pitt The Younger and makes the suggestion that he has misused his power to get his hands on the bank’s reserves.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/may/14/james-gillray-bank-of-england

http://www.designweek.co.uk/whats-on/mocking-the-old-lady/3036463.article

James Gillray - Colonial Powers 1783

James Gillray - 1757-1815
 Colonial Powers 1783

James Gillray cartoon showing England being reproached

by France, Spain and Holland for 'losing' America.

James Gillray - Lady Godina's Rout;—or—Peeping-Tom spying out Pope-Joan

James Gillray  1757-1815


Lady Godina's Rout;—or—Peeping-Tom spying out Pope-Joan

SUMMARY: A fashionable crowd playing cards at two tables. In the foreground, four people playing the game Pope-Joan. One of the women is wearing a loose fitting semi-transparent dress with her breasts exposed. Behind her, peering down her dress, is a man who is about to cut off a candle due to his distracted state. Rear view of a fat woman dominates the left side of the picture.


MEDIUM: 1 print : etching, hand-colored.


CREATED/PUBLISHED: [London] : H. Humphrey, 1796 March 12th.


According to the National Portrait Gallery of the UK, the caricature refers to Lady Georgiana Gordon (1781–1853), Duchess of Bedford from 1803 until her death; the title and the lecherous servant refer to Lady Godiva. Pope-Joan is a card game; Lady "Godina" is holding the diamond nine, which is called the "Pope" in that game. The man sitting on Lady "Godina"'s right is John Sneyd (1763–1835); the fat woman sitting on her left is Albinia, Countess of Buckinghamshire (died 1816).