Hand-coloured etched and engraved print by Joseph Collyer after William Charron and John Bacon recording the Front of Admiral Keppel's Freedom Box, featuring depicitions of the enamel medallions showing allegorical figures, one representing Truth. Great Britain, 1779.

Hand-coloured etched and engraved print recording the Front of Admiral Keppel's Freedom Box. The original box was made of heart of oak, mounted in chased and engraved gold trellis work, into which are set two enamel medallions showing allegorical figures, one representing Truth. There is an inscription beneath each medallion and the artist's names and publisher's details are also inscribed.

These prints were made to record the appearance of Admiral Keppel's Freedom Box. This box was presented with the Freedom of the City of London to Admiral Augustus Keppel after his acquittal at a court martial in 1779. At the start of the Amercian War of Independence, Keppel was put in charge of the Channel Fleet but found it unprepared for action. In July 1778, he led the fleet into battle against the French off Ushant, an island at the north-west tip of France. The action proved indecisive but his second-in-command, Sir Hugh Palliser, failed to support him during the battle. This led to a quarrel that resulted in Keppel's trial at Portsmouth. The case was politically charged as Keppel was a Whig and Palliser a Tory. Keppel was acquitted, he became a popular hero. When the news of the outcome of the trial reached London, crowds gathered in the streets to celebrate the result. They attacked Palliser's house and burnt him in effigy.

E.102-1986