print;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1868,0808.3751
- Title
- Object: Next Sculls at the Adm-ty
- Description
-
Satire on the new Board of Admiralty. The scene is set outside the Admiralty in Whitehall. Outgoing members, some identified by partial names lettered on their clothing, standing on the steps lamenting the loss of their posts: John Phillipson ("I must Eat"); Philip Cavendish (who had actually died in 1743); Lord Winchilsea wearing heavy spectacles and saying "We shall see"; Lord Archibald Hamilton ("One thousand to sit & sign"); George Lee, in legal robes; John Cockburn turns to Sir Jacob Acworth, Surveyor of the Navy ("I that Build Ships") saying "Remember ye Victory". In the foreground, centre, Thomas Corbett, Secretary to the Admiralty, sits at a table, with two piles of coins and papers lettered, "State of his M[ajest]y's F[lee]t in ye W[est] Ind[ies]" and "A list of papers between Mr M[atthew]s & Mr L[estoc]k", and a letter with the name "Vernon"; he turns to the left saying "800£ for me come in who will". On the left members of the incoming Board line up: in the front, the elderly Sir John Norris leans on a stick saying, "Next Scull"; he is followed by Admiral Anson ("Round ye World & not in"), the Duke of Bedford ("I Bed for't"), the Earl of Sandwich ("My Great Grandfather was an Admiral"), Lord Vere Beauclerk ("I fought in ye Mediterranean"); another possibly identifiable as George Grenville ("I stood by for Orders"); the other Lord of the Admiralty Lord Baltimore, who reatained his seat on the Board, is presumably intended for the seventh gentleman. On the right, a sailor, holding a pipe, addresses his wife who holds a kettle, "Moll ye Wh[or]e mind foul Wether Jack" (a reference to John Norris); his small son holds a flag reading, "Strick not to the French Yet", and asks, "Why mayn't I be an Adm[ira]l too"; behind the sailor. Another man holds his finger to his lips saying, "Let 'em but change for honest Hearts". Twelve lines of verse below imply that the new Admiralty Board will make little change to life at sea.
Etching
- Production date
- 1744 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 200 millimetres
-
Width: 326 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The 'Victory' went down with eleven hundred men in 1744 (see 1992,0620.15). Jacob Acworth had criticised its design as too cumbersome, but here appears to be blamed for the disaster.
The disagreement between Admiral Thomas Matthews and his second-in-command Richard Lestock had led to failure in the recent Battle of Toulon (see BM Satires 2683).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.3751
