Collings (Samuel) pseud. Annibal Scratch.

, William Wells, 1784.
a political satire first published by Wells in April 1784, then re-issued in William Humphrey’s ‘The History of the Westminster Election’, in the following October. It depicts Sir Cecil Wray, originally nominated by Fox, but who soon became known as Judas for his deeply unpopular financial reforms, here caught between the irate figures of a Chelsea pensioner and housemaid. They menacingly wield a crutch and a broom, respectively, these weapons repeated as crossed trophies, ornately tied with ribbon, radiating light above Wray’s head. Across the river behind the old soldier are the crumbling ruins of Chelsea Hospital, and behind the domestic worker, who stands on a notice of ‘Tax of Servants’, is the locked up ‘Registered Office for Maid Servants’, with the notice ‘This House to be Let’ on the door. Either side of the title runs a poem lampooning Wray’s disloyal approach to his patron, Fox, and unpopular actions against the people.

The Westminster Election proved a rich topic for caricaturists and their publishers, the political upheaval providing ample opportunities for them to lampoon both Fox and Pitt, which the publisher, William Humphrey, did with relish, particularly in support of Fox..
250 by 350mm (9¾ by 13¾ inches).