'John Bull and the sinking-fund - a pretty scheme for reducing the taxes & paying-off the national debt!'
'John Bull and the sinking-fund - a pretty scheme for reducing the taxes & paying-off the national debt!'
by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 23 February 1807
9 3/4 in. x 13 3/4 in. (249 mm x 348 mm) plate size; 10 1/4 in. x 14 1/4 in. (261 mm x 362 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D12885
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
- Nicholas Vansittart, Baron Bexley (1766-1851), Conservative politician; Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sitter in 26 portraits. Identify
- Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1776-1839), Statesman and print collector. Sitter associated with 41 portraits. Identify
- George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (1753-1813), Politician; MP for Buckinghamshire and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Sitter in 34 portraits. Identify
- George Canning (1770-1827), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 64 portraits. Identify
- George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine (1751?-1824), Eccentric. Sitter in 20 portraits. Identify
- Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough (1750-1818), Lord Chief Justice. Sitter in 20 portraits. Identify
- Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine (1750-1823), Lord Chancellor. Sitter associated with 69 portraits. Identify
- Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), Commander-in-Chief of the Army; son of George III. Sitter associated with 73 portraits. Identify
- William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 70 portraits. Identify
- Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 190 portraits. Identify
- Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1754-1826), Army officer and Politician, Governor-General of India. Sitter in 46 portraits. Identify
- Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863), Whig politician; Home Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord President of the Council; Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. Sitter associated with 77 portraits. Identify
- James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839), Scottish politician and author of 'Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth'. Sitter associated with 37 portraits. Identify
- Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 59 portraits. Identify
- Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Castlereagh) (1769-1822), Statesman. Sitter associated with 56 portraits. Identify
- Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk (1746-1815), Politician; MP for Carlise and Arundel. Sitter associated with 55 portraits. Identify
- Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), Prime Minister. Sitter in 20 portraits. Identify
- George Rose (1744-1818), Statesman. Sitter associated with 14 portraits. Identify
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), Dramatist and parliamentary orator. Sitter associated with 168 portraits. Identify
- Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (1757-1844), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 78 portraits. Identify
- George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834), First Lord of the Admiralty. Sitter associated with 31 portraits. Identify
- King William IV (1765-1837), Reigned 1830-37. Sitter associated with 175 portraits. Identify
- William Windham (1750-1810), Politician; Secretary at War. Sitter associated with 52 portraits. Identify
Events of 1807back to top
Current affairs
Act is passed abolishing the British slave trade after vigorous campaigning by hundreds of thousands of people led by Thomas Clarkson and championed in parliament by reformer William Wilberforce.Resignation of 'Ministry of all the Talents'. Whig politician William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, Duke of Portland, succeeds as Prime Minister.
Art and science
Thomas Hope publishes Household Furniture and Interior Decoration; influential in promoting Greek and especially Egyptian models as the epitome of fashionable style.International
French invasion of Spain and Portugal.Britain occupies Copenhagen and captures the Danish fleet.
Napoleon begins to wage an economic battle against Britain, recognising the impossibility of victory at sea because of Britain's superior naval power. He aims to close the entire European coastline to British trade.
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