''Uncorking Old Sherry'' is an 1805

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

by the English

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

James Gillray James Gillray (13 August 1756Gillray, James and Draper Hill (1966). ''Fashionable contrasts''. Phaidon. p. 8.Baptism register for Fetter Lane (Moravian) confirms birth as 13 August 1756, baptism 17 August 1756 1June 1815) was a British list of c ...

. The title is a play on the drink

sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...

and the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of the

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

theatre manager Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

. The Irish-born Sheridan had long associated with the Whig opposition, the print responded to a rambling speech he had recently made in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

against the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

. Following Pitt's death the following year Sheridan was made

Treasurer of the Navy The Treasurer of the Navy, originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes or Paymaster of the Navy, was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance from 1524 to 1832. T ...

in the short-lived Ministry of All the Talents. Pitt is shown uncorking a

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...

containing the head of Sheridan, releasing a series of old

puns A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

and attacks on the government. Shown on the opposition bench are other leaders of the Whig opposition including

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

. The work was reportedly originally dashed off by Gillray on a scrap of paper in a few hours. Pitt describes the opposition as like a newly opened bottle which "bursts all at once, into an explosion of froth and air". Amused by it, Sheridan himself ordered six copies, despite being the butt of the image's humour. It was published by the print seller

Hannah Humphrey Hannah Humphrey (born 18 October 1750) was a leading London print seller of the 18th century, significant in particular for being the publisher of much of James Gillray's output.The site indicates Humphrey published nearly 650 prints by Gillray; s ...

who handled much of Gillray's output. Today it is in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* Loxton, Alice, ''UPROAR!: Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London'', Icon Books, 2023. * Morwood, James & Crane, David. ''Sheridan Studies''. Cambridge University Press,1995 * Piccitto, Diane & Robinson Terry F. ''The Visual Life of Romantic Theater, 1780–1830''. University of Michigan Press, 2023. * Reid, Christopher. ''Imprison'd Wranglers: The Rhetorical Culture of the House of Commons 1760–1800''. Oxford University Press, 2012. * Taylor, David Francis. ''The Politics of Parody: A Literary History of Caricature, 1760–1830''. Yale University Press, 2018. 1805 prints Individual printed cartoons British political satire Caricature Satirical cartoons Cultural depictions of William Pitt the Younger Cultural depictions of Richard Brinsley Sheridan Cultural depictions of Charles James Fox Works by James Gillray

See also

References

Bibliography