Artwork
H Beard Print Collection
H Beard Print Collection is a print by the Romanticist artist Argus. It dates from 1805 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The print, titled *The Effect of Whitbread’s Entire or Wha Want a Guinea*, is a satirical engraving produced in London in 1805.
About this work
This print shows a political joke turned into art. Argus made it in London in 1805. It’s a print, not a painting, so it prints the scene on paper.
The joke is about politics. Pitt looks sick outside a pub. Sheridan and Fox collect coins that come out of another man who’s vomiting. Whitbread holds a tankard and watches.
Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum next.
Overview
The print, titled *The Effect of Whitbread’s Entire or Wha Want a Guinea*, is a satirical engraving produced in London in 1805. It depicts a bustling tavern scene in which several well‑known political figures of the era are rendered in a humorous tableau, with the central focus on a public house owned by the brewer Whitbread.
Subject & Meaning
At the left, the brewer Whitbread stands beside his ale‑house, tankard in hand, observing the chaos. To his right, a ailing William Pitt leans against the building, while Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Charles James Fox are shown gathering guineas expelled from the vomiting Viscount Melville, a visual pun on political corruption and the flow of money.
Technique & Style
Executed as a print rather than a painting, the work employs line engraving to render figures and details on paper. The artist, identified only as Argus, uses exaggerated gestures and caricatured features to emphasize the satirical tone, a common approach in early‑19th‑century political prints.
History & Provenance
The engraving was published by the London printer C. Knight, a notable figure in the production of contemporary pamphlets and caricatures. Its circulation would have reached a broad audience familiar with the political personalities and scandals of the period.
Context
The image reflects the heated political climate of the early 1800s, when debates over fiscal policy, patronage, and personal reputation were frequent subjects of public satire. By portraying prominent statesmen in a tavern setting, the print comments on the perceived mingling of private vice and public office.
Artist & collection
Artist
This print-maker left a single May 1805 view titled “H Beard Print Collection” on record, a crisp cityscape that feels like a snapshot of the day it was drawn.
