File:The board of controul. or the blessing of a Scotch dictator. (BM 1868,0808.5631).jpg
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Captions
Captions
Summary
editThe board of controul. or the blessing of a Scotch dictator.
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Artist |
Print made by: James Gillray
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Title |
The board of controul. or the blessing of a Scotch dictator. |
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Description |
English: A sitting of the Board of Control (established by Pitt's India Act 1784): Dundas, Pitt, and Sydney are seated behind a narrow cloth-covered table, but Dundas (left) monopolizes the business, while Pitt, his back to Dundas, plays push-pin with Sydney who is on the extreme right. Pitt complacently defeats Sydney who starts back in dismay at the position of the pins. Dundas turns his head in profile towards four ragamuffins in Highland dress who enter from the left. These, but not the members of the Board, are caricatured. The foremost, with shaggy hair, torn garments, and bare feet, scratches himself (cf. BMSat 5940) as he presents a petition with an eager grimace:
Etching and aquatint |
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Depicted people | Associated with: Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Date |
1787 date QS:P571,+1787-00-00T00:00:00Z/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 |
1868,0808.5631 |
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Notes |
(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VI, 1938) The Board of Control for India (the six 'Commissioners for the Affairs of India') was established by Pitt's India Bill (1784). Sydney was its President, Dundas its virtual head. Rose, 'Pitt and National Revival', p. 220; Wraxall, 'Memoirs', 1884, iv. 11. The allegations against Pitt in the pictures anticipate the clamour which was raised in 1788 over his Declaratory Bill. Ibid., v. 72 ff., and BMSat 7280, &c. The relations between Pitt and Sydney probably indicate general repute: Sydney was replaced as Home Secretary by Grenville in June 1789. Dundas wrote to Cornwallis, 29 July 1787, 'Out of delicacy to Lord Sydney, the alteration in the constitution of the India Board was not made as intended, last winter, but certainly will in the course of next. Lord Sydney never attends, nor reads nor signs a paper. . . . Mr Pitt is a real active member. . . .' 'Cornwallis Corr.' i. 321. The position of the leading member (Dundas) of the Board of Control was virtually that of a Secretary of State for India. 'Camb. Hist. of India', v. 200 ff. Elphinstone was to prove 'the most violent opposer and the most formidable Government has had at the India House'. Bulkeley to Buckingham, 10 March 1788, 'Courts and Cabinets of George III', i. 361. For the popular theme of Dundas as lord of India and distributor of patronage to Scots cf. 'Probationary Odes', xii, and BMSats 7139, 7149, 7183, 7280, &c. Push-pin is called 'the old game of the Board' in 'The Album of Streatham', 1788, p. 60. For Gillray's imitation of Sayers's signature cf. BMSat 7146. Grego, 'Gillray', p. 85. Wright and Evans, No. 22. |
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Source/Photographer | https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-5631 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Permission (Reusing this file) |
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
Licensing
editThis image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 18:52, 9 May 2020 | ![]() | 1,600 × 1,164 (745 KB) | Copyfraud (talk | contribs) | British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1787 #3,374/12,043 |
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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 | 15:36, 6 July 2006 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |