- Museum number
- 1868,0808.9361
- Title
- Object: The bear-garden; or, a regular row at St Stephens!!!
- Description
-
The scene in the House of Lords when the King entered to prorogue Parliament on 22 Apr. In the foreground is the Table receding in perspective towards the throne onto which the King is mounting, crowned and holding the sceptre, but unnoticed by the excited peers, though a voice from the background shouts: 'The King! the king!!' The Ministerial peers in their robes stand (left) on the right of the Table, Grey and Lansdowne in the foreground. Richmond angrily faces Londonderry, who leans over the Table shaking his fists and shouting frantically 'Does the Noble Duke mean to become the hero of the coup d'etat? No matter—I will be heard, by G—d—d—mme'. Two peers tug at his coat-tails, one placing a foot on his posterior. Cumberland pulls at a peer who tugs at Londonderry's right shoulder; others help them. Wellington is the only Opposition peer wearing a robe. Others, including Eldon and a bishop, stand behind with raised arms. Brougham leans towards the turbulent peers with a schoolmaster's angry gesture. 30 April 1831
Hand-coloured lithograph
- Production date
- 1831
- Dimensions
-
Height: 249 millimetres
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Width: 350 millimetres
- Curator's comments
-
The same image appears printed on a small bone china mug in the British Museum (see BEP1993,1006.1)
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This print depicts the moment Parliament was dissolved by William IV in 1831. It had become generally accepted that some parliamentary reform was necessary. The Tory Duke of Wellington, a celebrated war hero, but an inept Prime Minister, seen here in green with his distinctive hooked nose, was resolutely opposed to Reform and had been ousted in 1830. He was replaced by the Whig Earl Grey, the bald-headed figure in red robes. Grey backed Lord John Russell's Reform Bill of 1831, which was supported in the House of Commons, but rejected by the House of Lords. Fearful that the resulting riots might lead to a Revolution, Grey convinced William IV of the need for reform. On 7 June 1832, the Bill received royal assent. The Reform Act changed the British electoral system. It increased the electorate and removed many inequalities in representation, especially in the industrial North. So-called ‘Rotten’ boroughs, where a handful of voters sent several members to Parliament, were also done away with. The Right to vote was extended to any man owning property worth £10 a year.
St Stephen’s Hall, Westminster, where the House of Commons sat till 1834, is here likened to the former Beargarden or bear-baiting pit in Southwark, often used for rough sports.
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(Description and comment from M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', XI, 1954)
See No. 16641, &c. The scene was compared with the "Serment du Jeu de Paume" (1789) and "was as much like the preparatory days of a revolution as can well be imagined". Greville, 'Memoirs', ii. 138 f. See 'The Times' leader, 23 Apr.; Brougham, 'Life and Times', 1871, iii. 115-18. Richmond (to prevent any speaking, especially Wharncliffe's motion to address the Crown against dissolving Parliament) moved that noble lords should be seated in their proper places (he saw Wellington next Lyndhurst). Londonderry (cf. No. 17004) spoke much as above. 'Parl. Deb.', 3rd s. iii. 1805-10.
The BM has a Staffordshire transfer-printed mug with a version of this scene, 1993,1006.1
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2018 12 Jan-11 Mar, BM, 90a, Pots with Attitude: British satire on ceramics
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.9361