Heath's caricature presents Sir William Knighton, standing to the left of the composition, and Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham, seated to the right, amidst an argument regarding the bequest of king George IV. Conyngham had been the mistress of Georg IV since 1819, and upon his death in June 1830, only a few months prior to the execution of Heath's caricature, had bequeathed her all of his jewels. There appears to be some dispute over whether it was Conyngham that rejected the bequest, or whether it was in fact Knighton, Keeper of the Privy Purse to George IV, that had prevented Conyngham from appropriating the jewels. Rumour that Knighton and Conyngham were acting in collision had also been spread.
The argument appears somewhat tense. Knighton, standing to the left, leans towards Conyngham with a menacing stance. His left arm rests upon the back of a chair, which he rocks forward with him, whilst his right arm extends backwards, with his sword on display. Despite Knighton's attempts, Conyngham does not appear intimidated. Seated in an arm chair, the rotund Conyngham, with an angered frown upon her face, throws her right arm out in a rhetorical gesture. Several money bags are sat by her side, one of which is inscribed with '£10-000'.Heath's caricature plays into the notion that Knighton and Conyngham had been conspiring together, with hopes of gaining the King's wealth. With her piles of money bags, Conyngham appears to have been far more successful from the plot than Knighton.
Fine print by William Heath (1794 Northumberland-1840 Hampstead, London) Heath was described by Dr. John Brown as the 'poor Heath, the ex-captain of Dragoons, facile and profuse, unscrupulous and clever'.
Dimensions 430mm x 300mm ( 17” x 13”)
L18236
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