Passing the piers -- Passage of the reform cutter

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Robert Seymour
1798-1836
Passing the piers -- Passage of the reform cutter
wood-engraving
3 1/2 x 3 inches
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2133
Published: 
[London] : [William Strange], [ca. 1834]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Probably detached from one of four issues of Whiggeries and waggeries, London : William Strange, 1834. This publication reprinted wood engravings by Robert Seymour, Robert Cruikshank, and others which had previously appeared-- often with different captions-- in Figaro in London, also published by Strange. The identical image appeared in Figaro in London, no. 19, 1832, with the same title.

Summary: 

The 'Reform Cutter' passes under an arch of a bridge, the arches being supported on piers, the carved capitals of which are heads of peers. It is carried along on a rapid tide: 'Popular Opinion'. Lord Brougham stands with a boat-hook to push through the arch, jabbing the point against the stone head of Wellington, next which is Cumberland. Three clustered pillars form the next pier, topped by the head of Eldon between Newcastle and Londonderry. The heads on the third pier are scarcely characterized. The King, in crown and robes, sits in the boat, using the sceptre to guide it through the arch. Behind is Grey, anxiously holding the tiller-lines. Illustration to an article on passing 'the Bridge of Aristocracy'.

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