The V Committe framing a report

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James Gillray
1756-1815
The V Committe framing a report
etching & stipple engraving, hand colored
image: 237 x 350 mm; plate mark: 254 x 358 mm; sheet: 255 x 365 mm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2412
Published: 
[London] : Pubd. according to Act of Parliament Augt. 12th, 1782, by C. Atkinson, and sold in Mark Lane ..., [12 August 1782]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Title from item.
Printmaker from British Museum catalogue.
Later state, with the undescore line following V removed from title.
"In October 1782 Atkinson was indicted for perjury, as a result of the inquiries of the Victualling Committee. He was eventually tried and found guilty in the King's Bench before Mansfield on 15 July 1783. He was expelled from the House of Commons 4 Dec. 1784 and afterwards stood in the pillory, 25 Nov. 1785. This print appears to amalgamate the proceedings of the Commissioners of the Victualling Office with those of the Parliamentary Committee whose names are given in the 'Commons' Journal', vol. 38, pp. 871-2, 895, 1000."--Curator's comments, British Museum online catalog.

Summary: 

Depicts a 22 member parliamentary committee examining the conduct of Christopher Atkinson (a.k.a. Savile), employed by the Navy Victualling Board and accused of malfeasance. All the figures are numbered, and Atkinson stands at the right. Other identifiable figures include the chairman Samuel Whitbread (no. 1), Bamber Gascoyne and Montague Burgoyne.

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