![[Paul REVERE? engraver.] A Picturesque View of the State of Britain for 1780. [Boston: John McDougall, 1780].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2021/NYR/2021_NYR_18947_0317_000(paul_revere_engraver_a_picturesque_view_of_the_state_of_britain_for_17122625).jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
[Paul REVERE? engraver.] A Picturesque View of the State of Britain for 1780. [Boston: John McDougall, 1780].
An extremely rare satirical print depicting Great Britain as a cow, being “milked” of her natural resources by a Dutchman while America – personified by a Native American – saws off her horns. The bounty is shared gleefully by the Dutchman with his European colleagues, a Frenchman and a Spaniard. An obviously powerless Englishman wrings his hands in despair while the British lion lies asleep, oblivious to even a small dog’s indiscretion. In the background, a British ship has run aground. Based on a popular earlier satire entitled A Picturesque View of the State of the Nation for February 1778, this iteration has an important difference: it shows New York in the upper right where European variants depict Philadelphia. In his 1907 American Engravers upon Copper and Steel, David McNeely Stauffer attributed the work to Paul Revere, however Clarence Brigham makes no mention of it in his catalogue raisonné of Revere’s engravings. Published as the frontispiece to Weatherwise’s Town and Country Almanack for the Year of our Lord 1781 by McDougall. Stauffer 2692.
Engraving on laid paper. Plate: 6 5/8 x 7 1/8 in (170 x 183mm), sheet 7 1/4 x 8 1/2 in (185 x 215mm). Framed.
An extremely rare satirical print depicting Great Britain as a cow, being “milked” of her natural resources by a Dutchman while America – personified by a Native American – saws off her horns. The bounty is shared gleefully by the Dutchman with his European colleagues, a Frenchman and a Spaniard. An obviously powerless Englishman wrings his hands in despair while the British lion lies asleep, oblivious to even a small dog’s indiscretion. In the background, a British ship has run aground. Based on a popular earlier satire entitled A Picturesque View of the State of the Nation for February 1778, this iteration has an important difference: it shows New York in the upper right where European variants depict Philadelphia. In his 1907 American Engravers upon Copper and Steel, David McNeely Stauffer attributed the work to Paul Revere, however Clarence Brigham makes no mention of it in his catalogue raisonné of Revere’s engravings. Published as the frontispiece to Weatherwise’s Town and Country Almanack for the Year of our Lord 1781 by McDougall. Stauffer 2692.
Engraving on laid paper. Plate: 6 5/8 x 7 1/8 in (170 x 183mm), sheet 7 1/4 x 8 1/2 in (185 x 215mm). Framed.