Election Candidates
published May 20, 1807
Medium
Hand-colored etching on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 31.5 × 25 cm (12 7/16 × 9 7/8 in.); Plate: 36 × 25.8 cm (14 3/16 × 10 3/16 in.); Sheet: 36.8 × 28.7 cm (14 1/2 × 11 5/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89878
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Despite its jovial hand coloring, James Gillray’s response to the 1807 parliamentary election in the district of Westminster caricatures real candidates with ruthlessness. Here Gillray implied that the winner, the radical Sir Francis Burdett, had extra help. Burdett becomes the goose atop the pole, supported by a demonic figure with a pitchfork, while the agitated constituency below degenerates into a mob.