Hop, Step and Jump

Artist Piercy Roberts (English, 1792 - 1824)

Date1804

Object number00054712

NameCaricature

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 270 × 360 mm
Mount / Matt size: 407 × 560 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA hand-coloured etching by engraver Piercy Roberts of a caricature titled 'Hop, Stem and Jump'. It depicts a diminutive Napoleon in full military uniform and an oversized bicorn hat. He is traversing the seas from Corsica to Dover in three stages by hoping on a series of rocks marked: Corsica, France, Ambition, Power, Calais and Dover. Each stage is explained by handwritten text as follow: The Hop, sees Napoleon jump: From indigence in Corsica / To Affluence in France; the Step sees him stand across two rocks marked Ambition and Power, marking his progress: From aspiring Ambition / to the summit of Power; and the Jump shows him leaping off a rock marked: Calais towards the last one marked: Dover, where John Bull stands holding a sword upon which Napoleon is impaled as he falls. HistoryThis caricature is one of a collection of seventeen created during the Napoleonic wars and highlights the fortunes of the French Emperor during his rise and fall. It was during this period that the character of John Bull was created as a representation of the solid English yeoman and the caricatures reflect the attitudes common in England at the time.SignificanceThe collection is significant as a contemporary expression of popular British attitudes towards Napoleon and his era. The collection includes works by noted artists James Gillray, Isaac Cruikshank and Thomas Rowlandson and are all original works dating to the first quarter of the 19th century. They are significant in providing a political context for the early years of British settlement in Australia.