The Instalation Feast.
[London]. Published according to Act of Parliament, [Sept. 22, 1762]. Price 6d. oblong folio, etching, 17x 34cm. [6-3/4" x 13-3/4"); laid on stiff backing sheet, a fine clean copy. (cgc.bx) BM Satires 3895. A satire of the so-called Installation Feast, held barely six months before the end of the Seven Years' War; the feast had been arranged for the then Prime Minister, John Stuart, Earl of Bute, whose ministry was exceedingly unpopular. During the early part of the war the leading light of British policy was William Pitt, Earl of Chatham and Secretary of State, but his influence waned precipitously upon the death of George II in 1760 and the accession of George III; The young king was heavily influenced by Bute, a Scot whose policies regarding the culmination of the War were diametrically opposed to those of Pitt, and the latter resigned his post in 1761. With Pitt's resignation Lord Bute came to play a significant role in British politics, but was roundly disliked and mistrusted. He surrounded himself with Scottish friends, which antagonized the populace, was rumoured to be the lover of the young king's mother, the dowager Princess of Wales, and was strongly derided and lambasted by the British press, especially by John Wilkes' "North Briton". Despite England's resounding victories in North America, the king followed Bute's advice to end the war as quickly as possible, and ended up returning substantial portions of lands already conquered to Spain and France. In this image, a gentleman in the foreground holds a mirror, or a portrait, marked Pitt, Bute's sworn enemy, foretelling the re-emergence of William Pitt, who regained power a few year later, in 1766. Item #40241
Price: $750.00