Chevalier D'Eon: St George & the Dragon & Madlle. riposting

drawn and engraved by Isaac Robert Cruikshank.

London, Oct. 12th 1789, published by S Fores, No. 3 Piccadilly
Hand-coloured etching and engraving. 256 by 399mm (10 by 15¾ inches).
Some light creasing, trimmed to plate mark

The satirical print depicts two renowned fencers Chevalier D’Eon and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George. They are fighting, respectively the Prince of Wales and George Hanger.

Chevalier D’Eon was a soldier, diplomat and spy who lived half his life as a man and then as a woman in France and England. Whilst Joseph Bologne, soldier and fencer was the first Classical music composer of African ancestry. It is worth noting that in this print the colouring does not refer to Saint-George’s ancestry, whilst other known copies do. Was this down to a lack of knowledge on behalf of the colourist.

Chevalier D’Eon was born on 5 October 1728 to a minor aristocratic family in Burgundy. D'Eon worked as a spy and diplomat for King Louis XV of France in Paris. After a stint as a Captain in the French Dragoons, D'Eon was sent to London as a diplomat and embraced London life and continued to spy for the King before falling out with a superior.

The Chevalier then sought political exile in London and published secret diplomatic documents in Lettres, memoires et negociations, one of the most scandalous books of the time. As a result d'Eon, whose name had formerly only been known in court and diplomatic circles, became something of a celebrity in London.

There had long been rumours in both Britain and France that the Chevalier was a woman, and by 1771, London bookmakers had even begun to take bets on d'Eon's gender as the public debate raged on. From that date the Chevalier began to permanently present as a woman. In old age, the Chevalier lived with a widowed friend, Mrs Coles, in modest circumstances. Despite the fame and notoriety that had accompanied this remarkable life, d'Eon died in poverty in May 1810, at the age of 81.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745 – 1799) was born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, the son of George Bologne de Saint-Georges, a wealthy planter, and Anne dite Nanon, his wife's African slave. He grew up to become a classical composer, virtuoso violinist, a conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris, and a renowned champion fencer.

When he was young, his father took him to France, where he was educated. During the French Revolution, the younger Saint-Georges served as a colonel of the Légion St.-Georges, the first all-black regiment in Europe, fighting on the side of the Republic.

BM Satires: In the foreground (right) George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine staggers backwards under the attack of St. George who says, ‘Now in de Mouth, den in de Eye, & den where you like’. Behind and on the left, the Prince stands limply in front of an arched doorway. The Chevalier d’Eon, in profile to the left, faces the Prince with clenched fists. he says ‘vill you have de toder Stroke’. The Prince, putting his right hand to his eye, says, "no no I find I cant Stand up to yow now I'm done, Oh! my Eye."

This satirical print was produced at the beginning of the French Revolution when d'Eon’s , now living in England, annual French pension was suspended and money became scarce. The Chevalier began to perform fencing exhibitions in women's dress, astonishing audiences and becoming a popular personality. Although finances remained tight, D'Eon had become a celebrity and prints were published showing these famous fencing matches. One such print depicts him fighting with Saint-Georges

Bibliography BM Satires 7557

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