Image: A-Block-for-the-Wigs-Gillray

Description: A Block for the Wigs—or, the new State Whirligig Js. Gy. d. & ft. SUMMARY: Cartoon shows a carousel on which sit government ministers Charles Fox, Lord North, Edmund Burke and Admiral Keppel. Beam in the center of the carousel platform is a pillar topped by a bust of King George III, a wig and Union Jack suspended over the bust. In the background two robbers lower a large bundle from the window of a building. An inscription above the cartoon reads "Poor John Bull's house plunder'd at noon day." MEDIUM: 1 print : etching. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [London] : W. Humphrey, 1783 May 5th. Puns include wig for Whig and block for the device for beheading, the head-shaped device for forming wigs, and blockhead as in stupid person. Burke is dressed as a Jesuit, is reading from Sublime and Beautiful, and has a skeleton for a leg.
Title: A-Block-for-the-Wigs-Gillray
Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-6861 (color film copy transparency), uncompressed archival TIFF version (50 MB), color level (pick white and black points), cropped, and converted to JPEG (quality level 88) with the GIMP 2.4.5.
Author: James Gillray
Permission: No known restriction on publication.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No