French Habits: L'Avocat de la Republique
This is the seventh in a series of twelve plates in which Gillray portrays members of the Whig opposition wearing the new ceremonial robes designed by Jacques-Louis David for the prominent public officials of the French Directorate. Here Thomas Erskine is shown as L'Avocat de la Republique, the Republic's Lawyer.
© Trustees of the British Museum
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In the two sources Gillray used to inform his "French Habits," there is no official dress or position listed for the Lawyer of the Republic, so Gillray was on his own to create a "habit" in keeping with others in the set of twelve. He may, however, have been influenced by the French illustration shown below for the position of Commissaire du Directoire Exécutif près les Tribunaux. The black cloak under the white collar, the black breeches above the knee, the heavy cuffs at the wrists, the black sash knotted at the hip, and black stockings—all of these are present in both prints. But, of course, there are also striking differences. The most obvious of these differences—the stance, the position of the hands, and the absence of the striking plumed hat in the French illustration—can perhaps be explained (if not explained away) by the fact that Gillray had to make sure his audience recognized Erskine. The traditional barrister's wig and the imploring stance (as if he were addressing a jury) were part of his identity. They could not be dispensed with.
Commissaire du Directoire Exécutif près les Tribunaux [1796]
In any Whig controlled revolutionary government, it would have gone without saying that the position of L'Avocat de la Republique would be filled by Thomas Erskine. And Gillray would have been well aware of that. Erskine had been defending high profile clients with radical leanings for over ten years, including Horne Tooke and Thomas Paine. And he had been appearing in Gillray's rogue's gallery of Whigs since 1795.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on French Habits: L'Avocat de la Republique.
- "Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine," Wikipedia
- Collection des nouveaux costumes des autorités constituées, civils et militaires
- Dresses of the Representatives of the People. . .
- Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #191
- Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times pp. 239-240.
NEXT: French Habits 8
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