Isaac Cruikshank

[1] Cruikshank was the son of Andrew Crookshanks (c. 1725 – c. 1783), a former customs inspector,[1] dispossessed for his role in the Jacobite rising of 1745 originally from Edinburgh, and Elizabeth Davidson (born c. 1725), the daughter of a gardener.

His Olympic games or John Bull introducing his new ambassador to the grand consul and Boney at Brussells (both from 1803) contrast an implied European capitulation and British defiance under the threat of invasion.

[8] Isaac Cruikshank, James Gillray, and Thomas Rowlandson were considered the leading caricaturists during this period, and they produced many popular sketches and graphics satirizing contemporary issues.

A common theme in all three artists' works was the portrayal of gluttony and cannibalism meant to represent the exploitation of the people by the monarchy, sparked by the effects on the economy of France of the Revolution.

[9] In 1803 after France declared war on Britain, numerous patriotic prints resulted focused around support and strength for the British homefront.

[10] In 1809, Cruikshank created French Generals Receiving an English Charge which largely attacked Prince Frederick, Duke of York for his scandalous affairs with Mary Anne Clarke during the time.

[11] A contemporary of James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, Cruikshank was part of what has been called "the Golden Age of British Caricature."

Some have called his work "uneven"[12] but at its best, it provided a vivid insight into the cultural and political preoccupations of the British during the decades at the turn of the nineteenth century.

He was an avid and skilled water colourist, and had a "keen sense of humour", although his achievements during his shortened life suffered from the greater successes and "more prolonged career of his gifted son.