St. George & the Dragon & Madlle. riposting.

London: Pubd...S Fores No 3 Piccadilly, Octr 12 1789. Used; Like New/Used; Like New. Hand-coloured engraved print depicting the Chevalier d'Éon and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges engaged in fisticuffs with the Prince of Wales and George Hanger, respectively.  A line of text below the lower caption advertises "the completest Collection of Caricatures Etc. in the Kingdom" at Fores's Museum.  The present print was removed from an album leaf at some point in the past, and shows typical mild signs of wear associated with such a process.  Light central fold and mild creasing, else in fine condition.  14.25 x 10.5 inches (36.2 x 26.5 cm.).

The print relates to a series of celebrity combats arranged by society fencing master Domenico Angelo for the Prince of Wales in the 1780s.  Several other images record the fencing match between the two Chevaliers, with d'Éon in female dress.  Here, it is depicted as a boxing scene (two couples): the Prince of Wales and Hanger are worsted by d'Eon and Joseph de Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. In the foreground (right) Hanger staggers backwards under the attack of St. Georges; his hat and bludgeon are on the ground beside him. St. Georges 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. D'Eon's dress and attitude recall the print of the famous fencing-match with Saint-George at Carlton House on 9 Apr. 1787, [see Picot print in BM 1851,0308.219; Reproduced, Angelo, 'Reminiscences', 1904, ii. 46; attributed to Picot after Robineau. Attributed by Wright and Evans to Gillray, and reprinted in Bohn's 'Gillray', 1851 (No. 375).] though the Chevalier is in the position of a boxer, not of a fencer.  D'Eon is in a frilled muslin cap and fichu, with ruffled elbow sleeves as in that print and says "vill you have de toder Stroke". The Prince, putting his right hand to his eye, says, "no no I find I can't Stand up to yow now I'm done, Oh! my Eye." His feathered hat is at his feet. Behind him is the curving baluster of a descending staircase. On the wall is the inscription: 'Gentlemen and Ladies Taught the polite Arts of Boxing, Fencing &c &c by------George & ------D'Eon'. On the left hang two crossed foils with a pair of fencing-masks. On the right is a picture of St. George in classical draperies riding down an ass which he transfixes with his spear. 
This is a complex subject, caricaturing 'difference' in several forms in London society.  On one level it mocks the dissipation of the circle around the Prince of Wales and their foppish French associates, but it also pokes fun at differences of gender and race.  D'Éon's life lived partly as a woman is well documented, while the Chevalier de Saint-Georges is now celebrated as the first major European composer of African descent.  Cruikshank suggests the mixed-race complexion of Saint-Georges with a few lines to his hands and fists (apparently engraved with a roulette tool).
The French violinist, conductor and composer Saint-Georges left an indelible mark as a versatile artist and his historical significance lies also in his distinctive background as a biracial free man of color.  Saint-Georges was born in the French colony of Guadeloupe to the wealthy, white planter Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges, and Anne, one of the Creole people Georges kept enslaved.  Saint-Georges was educated in Paris and grew up to be a virtuoso violinist, conductor, composer, and accomplished fencer.  Intriguingly, despite his formidable reputation as a musician, no documentation exists of his musical education prior to 1764.  During the French Revolution, he served as colonel of the Légion St.-Georges, the first all-black regiment in Europe, but today he is best remembered for being the first European classical composer of African ancestry.  His exceptional talents rendered him the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim within the realms of European music. He composed an array of violin concertos, string quartets, sinfonia concertantes, violin duets, sonatas, two symphonies and an assortment of stage works, notably opéra comique. 

Charles-Geneviève de Beaumont d'Éon, the 18th century French diplomat, spy, and soldier lived openly as a man and as a woman in France and England at different stages of life, drawing much public interest, and infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman. "The sex of Chevalier d'Eon (or if you want his actual name Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont) was of great interest to people in the eighteenth century. D'Eon claimed that he was born female but had been raised as a boy so that his father could inherit from his in-laws. When he was older, he joined the dragoons and habitually wore a dragoon's uniform, even though rumors constantly circulated that he was a woman...The rumors exploded further when in 1770 when a betting pool was started on the London Stock Exchange about Chevalier d'Eon's true sexual identity...After the death of Louis XV in May of 1774, Chevalier d'Eon negotiated his return. He then demanded the French government recognize him as a female. Although Louis XVI complied, he required d'Eon to dress in women's clothing, and, in 1777, the king provided funds for him to buy a female wardrobe, which d'Eon did...The Chevalier eventually became paralyzed from injuries suffered during a fall and spent the remainder of his years bedridden with a widow named Madame Cole of New Millman Street caring for him. He died in poverty in London at the age of 81 on 21 May 1810 at 10pm .Questions about his sex had continued to circulate while he was alive. So it was not too surprising that after his death there was verification of his sex. When his corpse was laid out in a handsome oak coffin, covered with black cloth, and a black velvet cross on the lid, Madame Cole and others discovered he was man." ("Chevalier d'Éon: The Question of His Sex," Geri Walton, October 5, 2018; www.geriwalton.com)