'The state waggoner, and John Bull - or - the waggon too much for the donkeys!'

1 portrait of William Windham

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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'The state waggoner, and John Bull - or - the waggon too much for the donkeys!'

by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 14 March 1804
10 1/2 in. x 14 1/2 in. (267 mm x 367 mm) plate size; 11 1/8 in. x 15 3/8 in. (284 mm x 390 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D12829

Artistsback to top

  • James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist or producer associated with 887 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
  • Hannah Humphrey (circa 1745-1818), Publisher and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 720 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

Sittersback to top

Placesback to top

Events of 1804back to top

Current affairs

William Pitt returns to office and forms a second coalition administration, retaining many of those who had served under his predecessor Henry Addington but specifically excluding his arch rival Charles James Fox .

Art and science

William Blake starts writing Jerusalem. One of his most ambitious allegorical poems, it took nearly eight years to complete.
Amidst infighting about submissions to the annual exhibition, attempts are made to unseat painter Benjamin West as President of the Royal Academy and elect architect James Wyatt instead.

International

Napoleon declares himself Emperor of France and is crowned as Napoleon I by Pope Pius VII in Paris.
Haiti achieves independence led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, the patriot and martyr who had seized control from the French in 1801. He becomes a symbolic figure of freedom for the British anti-slavery movement.

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