Exit, Pursued by John Kay: The Staging of Graphic Satire in Late Eighteenth-Century Edinburgh

Abstract

John Kay (1742–1826), a late eighteenth-century Edinburgh barber turned graphic satirist, is generally presented as a quaint footnote to London-centric histories of British graphic satire, whose mild-mannered style lacks the bite of his London contemporaries. Focusing on a new analysis of Copper-Bottom’s Retreat, or a View of Carron Work!!! (1797)—a satirical portrait of William Forbes of Callendar—this article challenges such assumptions about Kay. Previously described as a “naïve, but amusing, print”, this article demonstrates that Copper-Bottom’s Retreat actually presents a complex and multilayered burlesque allusion, constructed within the framework of eighteenth-century Scottish theories of laughter, and which engages with prints after European Old Master and contemporary British history paintings. The image therefore demands visual engagement across a range of cultural media: image, performance, and text. Kay’s participation in and contribution to Edinburgh’s vibrant print culture is explored, and new context provided for Henry Raeburn’s monumental full-length portrait of the same sitter, painted the following year.