Fighting for the Dunghill, or Jack Tar Settling Buonaparte.

Size 35cm x 25cm

Originally published by Hannah Humphrey etched by James Gillray from 'The Genuine Works of James Gillray, engraved by himself. Thomas McLean edition on heavy rag-paper from the original copper plates printed 1830.

It is one of seven prints celebrating Horatio Nelson's victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. In earlier prints, Gillray had focused on the reactions to Nelson's triumph by the most prominent Whigs (Nelson's Victory, or Good-News Operating upon Loyal Feelings), on Nelson as a leader and the results of the battle (Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt), and on the potential death of the Revolution itself (Destruction of the French Collossus). Here he sees Nelson's victory as the latest punch in a boxing match between two nations for a prize of nothing less than world domination, the whole "Dunghill."

In some ways, this state of Fighting for the Dunghill is a throwback to early Gillray prints such as National Discourse (1780) and Dutchman in the Dump(1781) which used national symbols for their satire rather than the caricature of specific individuals. England is represented by a well-fed and pugnacious Jack Tar, wearing a hat that announces "Britannia Rules the W[aves]" while France is the half starved and effeminate figure familiar to Gillray's audience as far back as the Macaroni prints and mezzotints like An English Jack-Tar giving Monsieur a Drubbing (1788).

In this print as well, Citoyen François seems to be getting the worst of it. Jack is stepping forward out of an area of darkened clouds into an area of light as if putting British failures behind him. Correspondingly, Citoyen François is falling away from Jack Tar's onslaught into the shadows with a nose spouting whisker-shaped streams of blood. His body is covered with bruises identified with the names of the British admirals who struck major blows against the French. On the right arm, the bruise is labeled "Warren;" on the left arm, "Bridport" on the right breast, "Howe;" on the left breast, "Duncan;" and on the solar plexus, "Nelson." (www.james-gillray.org)