An English bull dog and a Corsican blood hound

A stocky bulldog pins a smaller, leaner dog to the ground, sinking its teeth into the ribs of the "Corsican Bloodhound." The bulldog wears a collar fastened with a padlock imprinted "John Bull." The bloodhound struggles in vain to escape and lies prone on the floor. Although the bloodhound bears the clear and unmistakable profile of Napoleon Bonaparte, the bulldog's head has features that are only vaguely anthropomorphized. Dated to the summer of 1803, this sheet is one of many images that deals with the invasion scare of that year. Here, the bulldog ably dispatches his rival in a composition that carries clear echoes of animal paintings made by George Stubbs. Stubbs' paintings frequently featured animals attacking their counterparts, for example, one notable theme is that of lions preying on horses. A stocky bulldog pins a smaller, leaner dog to the ground, sinking its teeth into the ribs of the "Corsican Bloodhound." The bulldog wears a collar fastened with a padlock imprinted "John Bull." The bloodhound struggles in vain to escape and lies prone on the floor. Although the bloodhound bears the clear and unmistakable profile of Napoleon Bonaparte, the bulldog's head has features that are only vaguely anthropomorphized. Dated to the summer of 1803, this sheet is one of many images that deals with the invasion scare of that year. Here, the bulldog ably dispatches his rival in a composition that carries clear echoes of animal paintings made by George Stubbs. Stubbs' paintings frequently featured animals attacking their counterparts, for example, one notable theme is that of lions preying on horses. Published by Roberts, 1803-08-00. British Museum, BM 10080. Originally published by Roberts in August 1803, the sheet in the Hay's collection was published by Thomas Tegg at a later date. This is evidenced by the clumsy attempt to scratch out Robert's name and the date on the original plate (bottom left and right). Caption: London Pubd. by T. Tegg Cheapsid [sic] Jany