William Hogarth (1697-1764)
John Wilkes Esqr
£630
Auction: 05 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
Drawn from the Life and Etch'd in Aquafortis. Publish'd according to Act of Pariament May ye 16 1763. Etching with engraving and stipple engraving on wove paper (no watermark), plate size 35.8 x 23.4cm, sheet size 39.8 x 26.4cm, priced 1 shilling in the plate, remnants of paper mount adhering to verso [Paulson 214.1]
Footnote
First state of one of the best-known political caricatures of the 18th century, showing the radical politician holding the cap of Liberty while seated next to numbers 17 and 45 of his newspaper, the North Briton, established to attack the Bute ministry which Wilkes viewed as a vehicle for a Scottish and Jacobite takeover of English government. Numbers 17 and 45 respectively contained attacks on Hogarth for accepting the patronage of George III, and on George III himself for the disadvantageous terms of the Treaty of Paris, which brought to an end the Seven Years' War. Hogarth's grotesque depiction of his adversary backfired and became adopted as an emblem of the radical movement.