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Political cartoon about British political corruption and Jewish sympathizers

Object | Accession Number: 2016.184.388

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    Political cartoon about British political corruption and Jewish sympathizers

    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    A variation of an etching created in March 1806 by caricaturist and political satirist, Isaac Cruikshank. The original is a commentary on Whig Party leader, Charles Fox, and the recently formed Ministry of All the Talents (active 1806-1807) in Great Britain. Following the death of William Pitt the younger, William Grenville created a governing body containing representatives of the three major political parliamentary groups of the era, including Charles Fox and Richard Sheridan. Fox converses with a shabbily dressed Jewish man regarding reform plans, while depicted as a manager of a tavern frequented by ministry members. Fox was a gambler and notorious for his indebtedness to Jewish moneylenders. Many critics questioned his associations with Jews. Sheridan, the red-faced figure in the tavern, was also the playwright responsible for The Forty Thieves, referenced in the title of the cartoon. The play was licensed in March 1806, and became a popular show that year. This further association between the Ministry and thieves is another allusion to Jews, who were stereotypically described as greedy, unscrupulous, disloyal, and untrustworthy wrongdoers. They were often portrayed as hoping only to enrich themselves, typically at the expense of others. This canard stems from the economic and professional restrictions placed on early European Jews, which forced many into occupations such as money changing or lending and banking. This perceived aspect was often depicted as a shabbily dressed Jew interacting with more respectable-looking members of the public. This print is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.
    Title
    A Design for a Scene in the Intended new Melo Drama intitled the Forty Thieves
    Date
    publication/distribution:  1806 March
    Geography
    publication: London (England)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family
    Markings
    front, upper left, within image, text balloon, printed, black ink : Ah! Citizen, how do you do. I’ve just finisd / my plan of Reform and as you have no plan we / can as well be going on with that as doing / nothing.
    front, upper center, within image, text balloon, printed, black ink : Citizen!!! we-go-on-with-your / plan!!! I don understand you / Oh!. I suppose youmean what / I used to gammon my / custommers with when / I lived over / the way, but / that sort of / fun wont do / now. we are / all different / people! [Citizen!!! We go on with your plan!!! I don’t understand you. Oh! I suppose you mean what I used to fool my customers with when I lived over the way, but that sort of fun won’t do now. We are all different people!]

    front, upper center, within image, crown sign, printed, black ink : The CASE is ALTERED
    front, center, within image, wall sign, printed, black ink : Whitbreads / intire.
    front, upper right, within image, text balloon, printed, black ink : And let them be merry merry there / And we’ll be merry merry here, / For who does know where we may go, / To be merry another year.
    front, lower right, within image, building sign, printed, black ink : C.J.F &Co. Dealers Rectifiers and / compounders [the 'nf' of 'confounders' is scored through, and replaced by 'mp'] of foreign. / Spirits.

    front, center, below image, printed, black ink : A Design for a Scene in the Intended new Melo Drama intitled the FORTY THIEVES.
    front, right corner, below image, printed, black ink : Pub Marrb 23d 1806 [Publication March 23rd 1806] by / JHays 29. Marylebone St / Piccadilly
    Signature
    front, lower right corner, within image, printed, black ink: Illegible text
    Contributor
    Compiler: Peter Ehrenthal
    Artist: Isaac Cruikshank
    Publisher: John Hays
    Biography
    The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Classification
    Art
    Category
    Prints
    Object Type
    Etching (lcsh)
    Genre/Form
    Prints.
    Physical Description
    Colorful etching of a political cartoon printed on discolored, cream-colored paper, depicting a Jewish man in conversation with a tavern keeper. He stands beside a tavern with nine well-dressed gentlemen inside. On the left, the Jewish man wears heavily tattered clothing and holds an over-sized book under his arm. He stands beneath a bunch of grapes in right-facing profile, which emphasizes his stereotypically large, hooked nose. He gestures with his left hand as he talks to Charles Fox, the rotund, tavern keeper standing opposite beneath a sign bearing a crown and text. Fox stands on the stoop outside the tavern’s doorway. His hands are in the pockets of his frockcoat, and he has table linens tucked under his arm. The doorway is set into a short wall, perpendicular to a sidewall dominated by a large, open window with a checkered placard to the left. A large, rectangular sign advertising spirits is located directly below. Visible through the window, six men are seated along one side of a table, including one man in the back faintly sketched in. They are opposite two more seated men on the other side, and a third individual, who stands at the end and presides over the group. A glass decanter and several glasses rest on the table. A man in a large hat smokes a long pipe, while a red-nosed man drinks from his glass. The man presiding over the group wears a hat and wig, and holds a golden mace. To the right, a small, faint figure sings a song in a large speech balloon that extends over the group. The title and publication information are printed along the bottom. The edges are slightly irregular and there are handwritten markings on the back.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 13.750 inches (34.925 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink, pencil
    Inscription
    front, bottom left corner, handwritten, pencil : illegible
    front, bottom right corner, handwritten, pencil : I Cruikshank ?? FTK
    back, bottom left, handwritten, pencil : Jewish / ?? / T/1 / I Cruikshank!

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Geographic Name
    London (England)

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The print was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Special Collection
    Katz Ehrenthal Collection
    Record last modified:
    2024-03-04 09:02:12
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn544161

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