The Odd Trick, or Nunkee Gaining the Honors
The Prince of Wales and Lady Jersey are shown as partners in a game of Whist (their chairs are opposite one another and the Prince's insignia decorates the ottoman in the center). But the Earl of Jersey (on the left) is showing four face cards (presumably Ace, King, Queen, and Jack) giving him the "Honors" But in the other game going on here between the Prince and Lady Jersey, as indicated by the Prince's two fingers behind the Earl's head, the Earl has gained another and more dubious bonor—that of cuckhold.
©Trustees of the British Museum
){kind=link}
This is one of a flurry of prints about the adulterous relationship of the Prince of Wales with Lady Jersey. They include The Jersey Smuggler (05/24/1796), The Grand Signior Retiring (05/25/1796) and Fashionable Jockeyship 06/01/1796)—all by Gillray, and Sketches from Nature (05/28/1796) by Isaac Cruikshank.
The print is signed "Thos Humphrey des & fect," and published by Hannah Humphrey. The British Museum assumes that Thomas Humphrey is an alias for Gillray. But it would be very unusual for Gillray to include the wholesale borrowing of figures from his earlier work as is done here. The Prince and the Earl of Jersey, for instance, had already appeared in almost identical profiles in Fashionable Jockeyship, just two weeks earlier and Mother Windsor (opposite the Earl) had appeared with the same profile and hat in January in The Presentation. Indeed the only signs of competence in the print are in the copies of these previously published figures. Lady Jersey is crudely drawn, the background is barely sketched, and the table on which the four are playing is totally lacking in perspective.
As a result, I am inclined to believe the print itself and assume that Thomas Humphrey is indeed the designer and etcher, a younger member of the Humphrey clan trying to get into the family print business by copying figures from Gillray.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on The Odd Trick, or Nunkee Gaining the Honors.
- "George IV of the United Kingdom," Wikipedia
- "Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey," Wikipedia
- "Whist" Wikipedia
- Many thanks to David Levy for providing some information about whist and taking a look at this print. See his sites about Edmund Hoyle
Comments & Corrections
NOTE: Comments and/or corrections are always appreciated. To make that easier, I have included a form below that you can use. I promise never to share any of the info provided without your express permission.