The Thimble Rig: "A Scene from the Derby"
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 11/16 × 16 15/16 in. (29.7 × 43 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2014
Accession Number
2014.757.5(11)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1834 lithograph, “The Thimble Rig: ‘A Scene from the Derby,’” uses the popular shell-game metaphor to lampoon British parliamentary maneuvering. Published by Thomas McLean and likely drawn by the celebrated caricaturist John Doyle, the print gathers leading Whig and Tory figures—including the 3rd Earl Spencer, the 14th Earl of Derby, Daniel O’Connell, and others—around a table where sleight-of-hand stands in for political promises and shifting alliances. The date places the satire in the turbulent months after the Great Reform Act, when fragile coalitions and Irish issues kept Westminster in constant motion. Lithography’s speed and affordability allowed such topical images to reach a broad audience almost immediately, turning the latest debate into parlor entertainment. Today the sheet offers a vivid snapshot of how visual satire shaped public understanding of politics in the 1830s, blending sharp portraiture with everyday street entertainment to comment on the era’s high-stakes legislative games.
About the Artist
John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer|Edward John Littleton, 1st Baron Hatherton|Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Daniel O'Connell|Thomas McLean|Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle|John Doyle|Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (British|British| ) · 1761 |1830 |1782 –1999 |1840 |1845
London|British, active 1830–40|British, 1782–1845