The Tea-Tax-Tempest, or the Anglo-American Revolution.

Date1778

Attributed to Karl Guttenberg

MediumBlack and white line engraving

DimensionsOH: 19" x OW: 24"; Plate H: 16" x W: 19 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-125

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "The Tea-Tax-Tempest, or the Anglo-American Revolution./ Angewitter entstanden durch die Auflage auf den Thee in Amerika./ Orage cause par l'Impot sur le The en Amerique."

With his magic lantern, Father Time depicts previous events and predicts future expectations. Four dismayed females, symbolic of the four corners of the world, watch his prophecies. A French cock, pumping a bellows, fans an already hot fire over which a teapot has reached the boiling point, spewing its contents - a serpent and a liberty cap - into the air. A small British lion lies under the fire, while to the left three animals presumably representing Spain, Portugal, and Holland fight among themselves. Behind them a group of British soldiers are in retreat, while on the right colonial soldiers led by Indian Princess America advance toward the flames to rescue the liberty cap before it falls into the fire.
On the bottom, two circular medallions portray historic events that closely paralleled the colonists' fight for freedom. On the left is an auto-da-fe (burning at the stake) commemorating the 1560 religious uprising in Holland. On the right, Wilhelm Tell, a Swiss citizen actively engaged in the struggle for individual freedom in 1296, is shown shooting an apple from the head of his son with a bow and arrow.
ProvenanceEx coll: H. Dunscombe Colt. Other known copies: Peel collection at the Morgan Library; Emmet Collection at the New york Public Library (2copies); New York Historical Society (2 copies).