File:The Viper, a Proof (BM 1868,0808.5693).jpg
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Captions
Summary
editThe Viper, a Proof ( ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Artist |
Print made by: William Dent
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Title |
The Viper, a Proof |
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Description |
English: A colossal woman inscribed 'Lady Leadenhall' sits on a rectangular pedestal inscribed 'India Comy'. A serpent with the head of Pitt pierces her breast with a barbed fang, its body is inscribed 'Declaratory Bill'. She holds up her left hand, exclaiming, "Is this the Return for having fostered you into Power!" On the left is part of the façade of the East India House. A file of soldiers fires point-blank at one of the windows; their banner is inscribed 'Controul'. They are the '7th System'. Their officer, 'Lord Controul' (Dundas), stands in Highland dress with a drawn sabre, he gapes upwards to receive in his mouth the excrement which is being discharged from the posteriors of three men seated in three windows of the House. From two other windows the head of an ass looks out. Above the roof the head of Fox, irradiated like the sun, and inscribed 'Candor', smiles down at 'Lady Leadenhall'. Various emblems lie in the foreground (left to right): a cannon inscribed 'Increasing Patronage', on it are a crown, a thistle, and the number '57'; beside it are cannon-balls inscribed 'Scots Pills' and a paper inscribed 'Four Regiments Job'. Round the pedestal of the India Company are a broken anchor, a bale, and a shield broken in half on which the words 'Charte\ red Rights' have been scored through. 6 March 1788
Etching |
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Depicted people | Associated with: Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Date |
1788 date QS:P571,+1788-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 |
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Medium | paper | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dimensions |
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Collection |
institution QS:P195,Q6373 |
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Current location |
Prints and Drawings |
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Accession number |
1868,0808.5693 |
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Notes |
(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VI, 1938) An attack on Pitt's Declaratory Bill on the powers of the Board of Control (see BMSat 7152) which led to a dispute with the East India Company, skilfully exploited by the Opposition and aggravated by the unpopularity of Dundas. The Company having denied the right of the Board of Control to send troops to India at the Company's expense (four regiments having been ordered there), the Bill declared that this right was given the Board by the India Act of 1784. Sheridan on 5 March 1788 called the measure of the Board of Control 'Scots pills for all sorts of oriental disorders'. 'Parl. Hist.' xxvii. III. The fall of the Government over the Bill was anticipated by many. See 'Parl. Hist.' xxvii. 65-151, 177-263; Wraxall, 'Memoirs', v. 71-85; Buckingham, 'Courts and Cabinets of George III', i. 361-5; 'Cornwallis Correspondence', i. 349-50, 354-6; Twiss, 'Life of Lord Eldon', i. 179-85. See BMSats 7281, 7282, 7283, 7284, 7305, 7311, 7480, 7494, 7496. |
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Source/Photographer | https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-5693 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Permission (Reusing this file) |
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
Licensing
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 01:35, 9 May 2020 | 1,312 × 1,600 (659 KB) | Copyfraud (talk | contribs) | British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1788 #1,119/12,043 |
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Orientation | Normal |
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Horizontal resolution | 300 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 300 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 |
File change date and time | 16:50, 31 August 2006 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |