Original antique engraving by James Gillray. From the Bohn edition of 1851, using Gillray's original copper plates. With later hand colouring.
In James Gillray's 1796 satire, The Dissolution; or – The Alchymist Producing an Ætherial Representation, the artist uses the imagery of alchemy to critique Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger's dissolution of Parliament.
The Alchemist Pitt:Pitt is depicted as an alchemist seated in a laboratory. He uses bellows shaped like aroyal crownto stoke a furnace, signifying the use of royal influence to manipulate the political process.
The Destruction of Liberty:The furnace heats a large glass vessel (a retort) in which the House of Commons is literally being dissolved. Symbolic items likeMagna Charta, the Bill of Rights, and the scales of Justice are seen flying into the air as they are destroyed by the heat.
The "Perpetual Dictator":A stream of vapor from the retort condenses into a new, subservient Parliament. In this "ætherial representation," tiny members prostrate themselves before a miniature Pitt, who sits on a throne inscribed with the title "Perpetual Dictator".
Treasury Influence: Beside the furnace is a coal-scuttle labeled "Treasury Cole" (slang for money) overflowing with gold guineas, suggesting that Pitt used national wealth to bribe and secure a more compliant government.
This engraving was printed in 1851 as part of the Bohn Edition., the last time Gillray's plates were used to pull prints.
Gillray was one of five children, and the only one to survive to maturity. In 1770 he was apprenticed to Harry Ashby, a London writing in engraver, and five years later W. Humphrey published a few of Gillray's illustrations including satirical works. By the time Gillray commenced his career satire was old, but personal caricature was in its infancy. Other exponents in this form of art were soon overshadowed by Gillray's superior craftsmanship. His figures were full of vitality, titillating and reflective of some political crisis or private scandal. As his popularity increased so did demand by the public to see more of his work. In the rapidly changing politics of the late18th century he would produce a plate in twenty-four hours. Although sometimes overlooked his speech bubbles were elaborate and Gillray would spend considerable time composing and redrafting the text.
Between 1791 to 1807 his career continued successfully in association with William and Hannah Humphrey. There after Gillray's health began to suffer. He eventually slipped into madness and died shortly before the Battle of Waterloo on June 1st 1815. Hannah, who had a close relationship with him nursed Gillray through out his final years and following his death the copper plates then formed part of Hannah's estate when she died in 1818. The executor's of Hannah's estate sold Gillray's painstakingly worked plates for there second hand copper weight. Hearing of this, the then publisher, Bohn who had previously expressed an interest in buying the plates set about purchasing them from a variety of different sources. Eventually acquiring over 500. In 1851 Bohn republished the engravings in a large folio volume, "The Works of James Gillray".
