The Injured Count,,S-

Because of their subject matter, several of Gillray’s prints, including this one, were not in circulation; these “suppressed plates” were published in a separate volume circa 1850. Mary Eleanor Bowes is pictured drinking with her servants, suckling her precious cats and neglecting her crying children while her footman beacons her to bed. Her cruel and adulterous husband, Andrew Stoney-Bowes, on the far left of the image, examines a map of his wife’s estates. His behavior drove his wife to petition for divorce, something that was rarely granted to woman at this time. In order to hinder her success, he launched a smear campaign against her; her husband probably funded the production of this particularly slanderous print for this purpose.