A stocky bulldog pins a smaller, leaner dog to the ground, sinking its teeth into the ribs of the "Corsican Bloodhound." The bulldog wears a collar fastened with a padlock imprinted "John Bull." The bloodhound struggles in vain to escape and lies prone on the floor. Although the bloodhound bears the clear and unmistakable profile of Napoleon Bonaparte, the bulldog's head has features that are only vaguely anthropomorphized. Dated to the summer of 1803, this sheet is one of many images that deals with the invasion scare of that year. Here, the bulldog ably dispatches his rival in a composition that carries clear echoes of animal paintings made by George Stubbs. Stubbs' paintings frequently featured animals attacking their counterparts, for example, one notable theme is that of lions preying on horses.
Notes:
Published by Roberts, 1803-08-00. British Museum, BM 10080. Originally published by Roberts in August 1803, the sheet in the Hay's collection was published by Thomas Tegg at a later date. This is evidenced by the clumsy attempt to scratch out Robert's name and the date on the original plate (bottom left and right).
Caption: London Pubd. by T. Tegg Cheapsid [sic] Jany
"An English bull dog and a Corsican blood hound"
Napoleonic Satires from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:232152/
The Napoleonic satires housed in the Anne S. K. Brown Military collection of the John Hay Library represent several important gifts made to the library in the 20th century. In addition to the Napoleonic satires located in the military collection …
This vast digital collection of military artwork from the 16th through 20th centuries, vividly documents all aspects of military and naval history, with emphasis on the history and illustration of world military and naval uniforms from the 17th century to …
