George Henry Boughton (1833-1905)

The Smoker's Rebellion (The Edict of William The Testy)

Details

George Henry Boughton (1833-1905)
The Smoker's Rebellion (The Edict of William The Testy)
signed 'G H Boughton' (lower center)
oil on canvas
22¼ x 32 in. (56.5 x 81.3 cm.)

Provenance

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1903.

Literature

New York Daily News, February 16, 1973, p. 40, illustrated.

Exhibited

New York, National Academy of Design, Centennial Exhibition, n.d (as Edict of William the Testy).

Lot Essay

Wilhelmus Kieft, better known as William the Testy, was the Governor of the Colony of New Amsterdam in 1634. After notoriously issuing an edict prohibiting tobacco smoking throughout the Colony, residents of New Amsterdam sat in front of the Governor's house smoking their pipes in a 'smoker's rebellion' until the governor withdrew the ban.

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