Bonaparte in Trouble

DateProbably 1812-1820

Maker Amos Doolittle (1754-1832)

MediumWatercolor and ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 11 3/4 x 14 7/8in. (29.8 x 37.8cm); Composition: 10 9/16 x 14 3/4in. (26.8 x 37.5cm); and Framed: 14 7/8 x 18in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1934.301.1

DescriptionA freehand copy of a printed political satire showing a military officer on a stumbling horse on uneven terrain. In front of the rider, a bear bites at his horse's reins. Behind him, a lion bites the horse's hock. Half-hidden by a cloud of smoke issuing from flames rising from behind the bear is the form of a devil extending a crown labeled "RUSSIA" to the horseman. A double-headed eagle bearing banners labeled "PRUSSIA" and "AUSTRIA" pluck at feathers in the horseman's bicorn hat. The rider's scepter has been broken off by a trumpeting figure emerging from clouds at far right; three crowns dangling from the broken scepter read "ROME," "ITALY," AND "FRANCE." A streamer from the figure's trumpet reads "LOUIS XVIII." Behind the lion at far right is a pedestal bearing two crowns and inscribed "SPAIN/ &/ PORTUGAL." Within the composition, the devil is numbered "1," the bear "2," the lion "3," and double-headed eagle "4," and the trumpeting figure "5." Artist unidentified.

The 1 5/8-inch splayed frame is painted to resemble bird's-eye maple; it is a replacement that may date from the period of the watercolor, but it was "antiqued" with dark brown paint, probably in the mid twentieth century.

Label TextThe amusing watercolor is a close copy of Amos Doolittle's etching of the subject published by the Connecticut firm of Shelton & Kensett. The only significant deviation is that the watercolorist chose to show half of the "Infernal Spirit" hidden by clouds of smoke, whereas Doolittle exposed the devil completely. The slavishness of the copy is illustrated by the far left tree trunk, which the watercolorist abruptly terminated just where the etching impression ends. With exceptions of spacing and a few minor alterations of spelling, all inscriptions are the same.

Other freehand copies of the Doolittle etching have been recorded. The most imaginative (and the most modified) is one done by a 13-year-old (W. Bell) in which the subject has been transformed into "Genl [Andrew] Jackson in Trouble."
InscribedA banderole at upper center in the composition is inscribed in ink, "BONAPARTE IN TROUBLE" and other banners are inscribed "RUSSIA," "PRUSSIA," "AUSTRIA," "ROME," "ITALY," "FRANCE," and "LOUIS XVIII." A pedestal at far right bears the words "SPAIN/ &/ PORTUGAL," and various figures within the composition appear beneath the numerals "1," "2," "3," "4," and "5". In the lower margin is written in ink "EXPLANATION 1 The Infernal spirit enticing Bonaparte with the Crown of Russia - 2 Bonaparte arrested in his progress by the Russian Bear-/ 3 The British Lion attacking him in the rear, having already Wrested from his power the Crowns of Spain & Portugal - 4 The Confederated Eagles/ of Austria & Prussia plucking the feathers of the Rhinish Confederation - 5 The Genius of Europe breaking the scepter of Bonaparte/ and loudly proclaiming LOUIS the XVIII."
ProvenanceAmerican Art Association-Anderson Galleries, Inc.; Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, by whom given to CWF.