Name/TitleNelson at the Nile; The Royal Dock yard, or The Walnut-shell Squadron
About this objectA satire on the extravagant court of the Prince Regent and the cabinet of Lord Liverpool.
The motif for the cartoon is the mock naval battle which had been staged on 1 August 1814 on the Serpentine in Hyde Park to commemorate Nelson’s great victory at the Battle of the Nile. Like a group of children making toy boats, the Prince Regent and his cabinet ministers make their ships from a basket of walnut shells and test their sea-worthiness in a large tub of water.
The identity of each of the politicians depicted as ship-modellers is inscribed on the stern of his boat. The insane George III looks in on the model-making scene from another room and proclaims, “Out upon you is this the way you attend to my concerns while I am Ill! Please the Lord to bring me about or I’ll ship you all off to New South Wales in your own walnut shells”.
The cartoon summarises the mood of the times by portraying an out-of-touch government and Prince Regent whimsically making paper sails out of petitions sent by an outraged public, whilst throughout Britain great social, economic and political upheavals were resulting in massive levels of transportation to the Australian colonies.
MakerGeorge Cruikshank - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
Date Made1814
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsPaper and ink.
Place MadeLondon, United Kingdom
TechniqueHand coloured
Measurements25cm x 43cm.
Object TypeCartoons
Object numberSF000800
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art