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Lordly Elevation

James Gillray (1756-1815)

Price
SOLD
Signed
Signed, inscribed with title and dated 'Jan 6 1802' in plate
Medium
Hand coloured etching
Dimensions
11 x 8 ¾ inches
Illustrated
Published by Hannah Humphrey, 6 January 1802
Exhibited
'The Illustrators: The British Art of Illustration 1791-2024', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, November 2024-January 2025, no 2

Published on 6 January 1802, James Gillray’s Lordly Elevation marked the succession of Sholto Henry Maclellan (1771-1827) to the title of Baron Kirkcudbright, on the death of his father on 24 December 1801. In so doing, it mocked the vanity and foppery that Maclellan is said to have exhibited despite being ‘short in stature and somewhat deformed in person’ (The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1827, page 562).
Lord Kirkcudbright stands at his dressing table, perched on top of an immense baron’s coronet which serves as a foot-stool, regarding himself in a draped mirror. The unfortunate Lord Kirkcudbright was born a hunchback and had succeeded to his baronetcy only two weeks earlier on the death of his father. Although deformed, the bottle of velnos syrup on his dressing table – a popular remedy for venereal disease – and the strategically placed hilt of his sword suggest that he is excited by his future prospects with the opposite sex.

The original drawing for this print was exhibited in ‘The Long Nineteenth Century: Treasures and Pleasures’, Chris Beetles Gallery, London, March-April 2014, no 21.

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