[AMERICAN REVOLUTION]. Explication de ce tableau touchant l’etat de la Nation d’Angleterre | Erklarung dieses Kupfer, in denen jezigen umstande der Engl. Nation. Amsterdam: n.p., [1780?].

Engraving with hand-coloring, 364 x 241 mm, with captions in French and Dutch in two columns lower margin, hinged to mount, matted and framed, some minor browning ,a few captions in pencil and one old crayon mark lower margin.

RARE REVOLUTIONARY WAR-ERA SATIRICAL ENGRAVING

Referencing the thread to British commerce posed by the avarice of England's neighbors and controversial conduct of Richard and William Howe as commanders of the British land and sea forces in America. A cow, representing the commerce of Great Britain, stands at the shore while an American saws off her horns. A Dutchman milks the cow while a Frenchman and Spaniard wait for their share of the milk. The British lion sleeps in the foreground while a small dog befouls him. In the background, Lord Howe's ship has run ashore at Philadelphia, and the Howe brothers are depicted in a drunken stupor at a table, representing the hollow victory of the capture of Philadelphia. An Englishman, wringing his hands in despair, watches the scene unaware of how to help.

We trace copies of this engraving in the Colonial Williamsburg collection, and at the John Carter Brown library; the present copy has captions which conform to the Williamsburg copy, while the captions of the John Carter Brown copy differ slightly.

Property from the Collection of Kay Michael Kramer

This lot is located in Chicago.

[AMERICAN REVOLUTION]. Explication de ce tableau touchant l’etat de la Nation d’Angleterre | Erklarung dieses Kupfer, in denen jezigen umstande der Engl. Nation. Amsterdam: n.p., [1780?].

[AMERICAN REVOLUTION]. Explication de ce tableau touchant l’etat de la Nation d’Angleterre | Erklarung dieses Kupfer, in denen jezigen umstande der Engl. Nation. Amsterdam: n.p., [1780?].