Gillray Caricatures: Royal mistresses

As the Prince of Wales and his brothers provided so much subject matter for Gillray, inevitably their mistresses also became targets. One of Gillray’s cruellest caricatures must be Lubber's-hole, - alias - the crackd Jordan (D13007). This represents the actress Dorothy Jordan, mistress of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) as a large cracked chamber pot into which the Duke thrusts his upper body. 'Jordan' was a slang term for a chamber pot and the sexual symbolism of this image is obvious and hard-hitting.

Gillray Caricatures