With "Sir Elijah Impey" inscribed in ink at foot of sheet.
Title from item.
"ELI" has been erased from the title, and "RA" etched above it.
Printmaker and year of publication from the British Museum online catalog.
Following imprint at head of sheet: Where may be seen the completest collection of Caricatures & c in the Kingdom Also the Head & Hand of Count Struenzee admitt 1s.
Print refers to charges of assault brought against Elijah Impey by one of his servants by the name of Mrs. Howlett, who described an incident in which she was attacked by Impey after she disciplined Impey's son who she claimed mocked her and squeezed an orange into her eye.
Library's copy trimmed to plate mark.
Sir Elijah Impey, wearing a judge's wig, birches a young woman whom a boy holds on his back, grasping her wrists. The boy looks round with a grin, saying, "Tickle her well Dad its my turn next." Impey, raising his birch ferociously, answers, "aye aye I'll lay it into her." The girl says "Oh the Young Imp, I'll bring you both to Justice." On a table (left) are books: 'A Treatise on the Birch Discipline' and 'Female Flagellants'. Beneath are chamber-pots containing birch-rods, inscribed '[ra]jah Senr' and '[ra]jah jun.' On the floor (right) are two books: 'Potent Reasons why Judges should avenge themselves' and 'How to Keep Maids under'. On the wall which forms a background is a statue of Justice in a niche (the head cut off by the upper margin), one scale inscribed 'Suprem Power' much outweighing the other. On each side of it is a large picture: (left) 'Excessive Pride'. Impey, seated on a throne, receives homage from prostrate orientals. A young woman fans him and shades him with an umbrella. Murderous-looking ruffians with pikes, &c, and a banner with a skull and cross-bones, stand beside him and on the right is an executioner carrying a noose and axe (an allusion to Mahārāja Nandakumar, executed by Impey in 1775 for forgery). 'Degrading Humility' (right) shows the interior of the House of Commons, with Impey kneeling at the feet of the Speaker (right), the young woman points accusingly towards him; birch-rods and chamber-pots inscribed as above are on the floor. Cf. British Museum online catalog.