Chris Beetles Gallery

(click image to enlarge)

Our Mr Winkle Pickwick (John Bull): Take his skates off, Sam ... You're a humbug, Sir! I will speak plainer if you wish it – An imposter, Sir

Phil May (1864-1903)

Price

£1,750

Signed

Signed

Medium

Ink

Dimensions

12 ½ x 15 ¼ inches

Illustrated

St Stephen's Review, 10 January 1885

Literature

Simon Houfe, Phil May. His Life and Work 1864-1903,
Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002, page 6

Exhibited

'The Illustrators: The British Art of Illustration, 1800-1999', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, 1999, no 93;
'The Illustrators: The British Art of Illustration 1791-2024', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, November 2024-January 2025, no 29

Inspired by Hablot Knight Browne’s illustration of Mr Pickwick on the ice in from the 1837 edition of Charles Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers, the present cartoon comments on the perceived state of the Liberal Party in 1885. With the personification of Britain, John Bull, as Mr Pickwick, the hapless Mr Winkle, who is falling on the ice, is represented by the Prime Minister, William Gladstone. In The Pickwick Papers, the chaotic scene results in Mr Pickwick falling through the ice. Phil May indicates that the actions of the Liberal Party may cause a similar metaphorical fate to befall the country.
In addition to William Gladstone, several other significant political figures are present. In the foreground, President of the Board of Trade, Joseph Chamberlain, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Childers watch the falling Gladstone, whilst portrayed in a skirt and bonnet is Earl Granville, the Leader of the House of Lords. Figures in the background include Randolph Churchill, William Harcourt and Otto von Bismarck.