'The triumph of Quassia'

Identify sitters

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Make a donation Close

'The triumph of Quassia'

by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 10 June 1806
9 5/8 in. x 13 6/8 in. (246 mm x 347 mm) plate size; 10 1/4 in. x 14 3/8 in. (260 mm x 365 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D12868

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

This portraitback to top

This is a historical work of art which reflects the attitudes and viewpoints of the time in which it was made. Whilst these may differ from today's attitudes, this image is an important historical document.

This print was made in response to a new tax on private brewers, who made beer for home consumption. It was an unpopular piece of legislation because it gave a monopoly to the larger public brewers, who were suspected of substituting hops for the cheap bark of quassia, a bitter-tasting tropical plant.

The image shows caricatures of the great brewers of the day trampling hops under their feet, whilst in the background hop-poles are being sold as firewood. These men were also politicians: George Barclay and Samuel Whitbread were Whig MPs and Harvey Christian Combe was Lord Mayor of London in 1799.

In a parody of a Bacchic procession, the brewers carry a barrel on which rides a Bacchus-like black figure. He holds a scroll that reads 'Kill-Devil for ever' in one hand and a tankard of quassia beer in the other, from which emanate the potential ailments that the drink could cause (such as apoplexy, palsy and dysentery). The figuration of Bacchus – Classical god of winemaking, fertility and religious ecstasy – as a black figure draws on contemporary pseudo-scientific notions of the physical and moral inferiority of black Africans. It was a widely held view in England that black people were subject to uncontrolled sensuality and impulses and this belief was used to justify their enslavement. The group is preceded on horseback by the three leading ministers of the day, their pockets overflowing with gold, who had formed a coalition known as the Ministry of Talents. From left to right they are: Lord Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord William Wyndham Grenville, the Prime Minister; and Charles Fox, then Foreign Secretary.

Placesback to top

Events of 1806back to top

Current affairs

William Pitt dies in January and his lifelong opponent Charles James Fox dies in September. Pitt is succeeded by William Wyndham, Baron Grenville, who forms the 'Ministry of all the Talents' coalition .
Prince of Wales instigates the 'Delicate Investigation'; a Parliamentary enquiry into claims that his wife Caroline had an illegitimate child.

Art and science

John Constable embarks on a formative tour of the Lakes and makes landscape studies of the Langdale Pikes and Helvellyn.
Turner exhibits his Thames views to acclaim at his own London gallery.
Humphrey Davy discovers the elements potassium and sodium by passing an electrical current through molten compounds.

International

Soprano Angelica Catalani arrives from Italy to make her London debut, amazing audiences with her showpiece arias.
Napoleon turns his forces east against Austria, Russia and Prussia and enjoys a wave of French victories.
British attack on Buenos Aires under General William Beresford fails.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.

Martyn Cornell

09 February 2021, 11:55

The implement George Barclay is carrying, incidentally, is a mash fork, used by brewers for stirring the "mash", the ground malted barley, in the mash tun, where the sweet wort was extracted to be boiled with hops.