A Sale of English-Beauties, In the East Indies, London, 1786 de Gillray, James - 1786

1786. 15" x 21" etching. 15" x 21" etching. "English-Beauties" For Sale in India Gillray, James [1756-1815]. A Sale of English-Beauties, In the East Indies. London: William Holland, May 16, 1786 (printed later). 15" x 21" etching on wove paper, trimmed to edges, attractively mounted and matted. Light even toning, light soiling, vertical crease through center, minor tear near upper right corner, few negligible spots to image. $950. * This biting satire on the East India Company's immoral activities in India presents an auction of a just-unloaded cargo of English courtesans to members of the company and their Indian colleagues, who are evaluating the women. The man in the center of the image has a set of papers projecting from his pocket reading "Instructions for the Governor-General." The unsold women are entering a warehouse on the right "for unsaleable goods from Europe, to be returned by the next ship." A foppish auctioneer stands at a podium made of bales of British-made "britches." At his feet are boxes of pornographic books "for the amusement of military gentlemen." At the bottom of the print is a case of "surgeon's instruments" and several barrels of "Leakes Pills," a contemporary remedy for sexually transmitted diseases. The use of wove paper for this impression indicates it was printed after 1786. BMSatires 6101.