From Sir William Hamilton's Collection
Original title: From Sir William Hamilton's Collection
kurzbeschreibung
James Gillray's caricature "Aus der Sammlung von Sir William Hamilton" is dated 8 May 1801 and survives as a hand-coloured etching. It presents a figure pushed into grotesque exaggeration, standing on a plinth bearing the words "DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED".
Description
The eye goes first to the red, bulbous coat with its yellow shoulder trimmings and tall black collar. The head is distorted, and a large white wig tips sideways and back. Beneath the figure sits a plinth inscribed "DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED". The setting stays bare: a flat grey field serving as the ground.
Context
The print appeared in 1801, when political and social satire was thriving in Britain. Sir William Hamilton, a distinguished diplomat and collector of antiquities, had drawn wide attention with his London collection. The sheet presumably alludes to his collecting mania or to a quarrel of those years, though no clear evidence for this has been found.
Impact
The distorted proportions and strong colours read as comic, almost absurd. The inscription "DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED" sharpens the satirical undertone and invites interpretation.
Technique
The image was etched, then coloured by hand with watercolours. Crisp contours and evenly applied colour follow the caricature practice of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)