Winding up to a pitch the Automaton Scaramouch, --or--, Harlequin Courier’s Delight
Description:
This political caricature depicts Queen Caroline as a puppet of her lover Bartolomeo Pergami (aka Bergami). Dorothy George describes the print as follows:
Bergami, mustachioed, whiskered, and alluring, in a tight-fitting harlequin’s suit over which is a short gold-laced jacket, sits on a tall stool, holding up a life-like puppet representing the Queen. He grasps it by the waist, and pulls a ribbon, making arms and legs fly up. She smiles delightedly down at him, her ringlets flying. She wears the décolletée over-dress . . . open to show frilled and spotted drawers. Bergami, part courier, part Harlequin, has a heavy queue of hair hanging from his black curls and wears a peaked cap with a big gold tassel. A heavy postilion’s whip projects from his pocket. He is directed to the l., towards an open French window and a vine trellis, with a view of Lake Como. He raises his r. leg, looking over his l. shoulder, away from his puppet. On the floor are the courier’s discarded pistol, powder-flask, holster, and saddle; behind his chair are portmanteaus, one inscribed B . B. A large book propped against a decanter inscribed A Boire is: Hop Step and Jump, or, every man his own Courier. List of Postes on the high road from Dunghill, to Barona. A partly dropped curtain (r.) reveals two figurines embracing below a shelf of books. The carpet is patterned with hearts. (191)
Copyright:
Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. Copyright, 2009.
Accession Number:
821.2.17.1
Marks Description
At the bottom of the print is written the title of the print and its publication information, “London Pub’d by G. Humphrey 27 SE James’s St. Feb. 17 1821.”Printing Context
This individual circulating print may also have appeared as part of a series of divorce trial caricatures by Lane and the Cruikshank brothers (George 191).Associated Events
The Trial of Queen Caroline (1820)Associated Places
Villa D'EsteAssociated Texts
There is a large body of satire, caricature, ballads, etc. surrounding the Queen Caroline divorce trial. This particular caricature is interesting for its historical detail: the costumes are drawn directly from testimony taken during the divorce trial of Queen Caroline. British Naval Lieutenant Joseph Hownam, an old friend of Queen Caroline who stayed at the Villa D’Este and accompanied her travel party, testified during cross-examination to the Queen and Pergami’s supposed staging of scandalous theatrical performances at the Villa D’Este. The transcript of his testimony records his account of the two relevant episodes. Louis Bergami is Pergami’s brother:'Did you ever see her Royal Highness perform in the theatre at the Villa D’Este?—YesAn earlier political caricature by George Cruikshank, A Dutch Toy!!!—Or, A Pretty Play-Thing for a Young Princess!!!—Huzza (1814) satirizes the relationship between Princess Charlotte, Queen Caroline’s daughter, and the Prince of Orange through similar iconography, though the male-female positions are reversed:'Have you not seen her perform the part of Columbine when Louis Bergami was the harlequin?—I do not recollect that, but it was before more than two hundred persons she performed; I do not recollect what parts she performed. . . .'Do you remember any part that the Princess performed that evening upon the stage?—Yes, I think she performed the part of an automaton.'What do you mean by an automaton; in what way did she perform?—The history was—it is so long ago that I do not recollect, but it was a man that wanted to sell an automaton, a woman in fact that you could wind up to anything; I forget the history of the thing; it was a farce upon the person who bought it, to find his mistake; it is a long time ago; I do not recollect the whole of the story; it was a little story composed by the Princess herself, I believe.' (The Important and Eventful Trial 659-60)
Princess Charlotte sits enthroned under a canopy, holding up a jointed puppet (a pantin) representing the Prince of Orange in military dress. She pulls the string that passes vertically through head and body so that arms and legs are extended. (George 409)
Subject
This politically satiric print, produced after the unsuccessful trial of Queen Caroline for divorce on the grounds of adultery, depicts Queen Caroline as a puppet of her lover Bartolomeo Pergami (aka Bergami), dressed as a Harlequin, at her estate at Lake Como, Italy. Queen Caroline is depicted as the popular jointed puppet known as a pantin, but the title makes reference to a supposed theatrical performance in which she appeared as an automaton (see "Associated Texts"). Scaramouch is a stock figure in Italian pantomine, like the harlequin or Columbine. Caroline’s exposed and fleshy body and her masculine face are particularly exaggerated but still similar to other caricatures of the Queen. Pergami is dressed as a harlequin, in reference to a supposed performance in which the Queen appeared as Columbine and Pergami’s brother played the harlequin. He is identifiable by his appearance: Bergami “was six foot three with a fine masculine physique, a mass of curly black hair and a luxurious dangling moustache” (Robins 62). The naked figures in the background represent statues of Adam and Eve at Villa D’Este which figure several times in the trial testimonies (George 191). The title of the book in the print references Barona, the residence Caroline purchased for Pergami, also referred to in the trial as Villa Bergami (The Important and Eventful Trial 65). Another witness testified that during a journey from Naples to Rome, Pergami served as the Queen’s courier, riding alongside the carriage. At one point in the journey, he approached the Queen for something to drink (“A boire, madame?”), upon which request she gave him a bottle of wine (The Important and Eventful Trial 531-32).Significance
Queen Caroline’s trial marks one of the most infamous political moments in Romantic-era England, and was the subject of numerous prints, caricatures, satiric ballads, poems, and other media. In this anti-Caroline print, Caroline is depicted as a puppet manipulated by her lover, but her joyful expression and indecent dress, as well as his knowing glance, render her lewdly complicit. In the spirit of the often scandalous and humorous trial testimony, this print foregrounds the sexual relationship with the couple’s wide-open legs, the suggestively extending string, the whip, the naked embracing statues, and the gun in the corner. Although Caroline is depicted as a puppet, the print’s title describes her as an “automaton,” both referring to her supposed theatrical performance as a woman who could be “[wound] up to anything,” and transferring control from the puppet-master to the self-generated automaton machine (The Important and Eventful Trial 660).Function
As a political caricature, the print harshly satirizes the Queen. The Cruikshanks and the caricaturists around them did not present a unified anti- or pro-Queen stance, but took advantage of the trial's publicity and scandal to create satiric prints drawn from court testimonies.Bibliography
Clark, Anna. “Queen Caroline and the Sexual Politics of Popular Culture in London, 1820.” Representations 31 (1990): 47-68. Print.Long Title
Winding up to a pitch” the Automaton Scaramouch,--or--, Harlequin Courier’s DelightFeatured in Exhibit:
From the Collection:
Delineator:
Image Date:
17 February 1821
Publisher:
G. Humphrey
