A man in ragged clothes stands facing right, hunched forward under the weight of a basket of 'Rents' and 'Taxes' strapped to his back. His legs are shackled, his mouth is closed by a padlock, and his hands are tied behind him. Image enclosed within a circle
Alternative Title:
Freeborn Englishman
Description:
Title etched above image., Printmaker is likely the publisher Thomas Spence's son William, who was born in the early 1780s and died in 1797. See Oxford Dictionary of national biography, entry for Thomas Spence., Probably a copy, with alterations, of a print published circa 1795 entitled "A freeborn Englishman, the admiration of the world, the envy of surrounding nations, &c. &c." See description for No. 8710 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 7., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Thomas Spence seems to have also issued copper tokens in 1796 with depictions of a similar shackled figure on one side. See for example British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: T.6498., and Not in Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum.
Publisher:
Publishd. by T. Spence, Turn Stile, Holborn
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain. and Great Britain
Subject (Topic):
Taxation, Poverty, Poor persons, Locks (Hardware), Shackles, and Taxes
Design in two compartments contrasting on the left the poverty and depravity of "French Liberty" with the opulence of the British on the right "British Slavery." The thin, ragged sansculotte with a liberty cap on his head, warms his bare, talon-like feet before a fire, while eating his dinner of raw onions. Behind him snails overflow his chamber pot; above the fireplace a "Map of French Conquests". At his feet a sword lies across a violin like a bow. He extolls the virtues of the National Assembly and new won liberties. In contrast on the right, an obese, red-faced Englishman sits in a luxurious room before a table laden with a tankard of hock and a large joint of beef. His shoes are slashed to relieve his bloated, gouty feet. A gold statute of Britannia adorns the wall above him. He curses his ministry for imposing taxes and starving the British people
Alternative Title:
British slavery
Description:
Title etched below image. and Two images on one plate.
Publisher:
Pubd. December 21st, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
France, France., and Great Britain.
Subject (Topic):
History, Taxation, Britannia (Symbolic character), Liberty, Poverty, Rugs, Taxes, and Wealth
Design in two compartments contrasting on the left the poverty and depravity of "French Liberty" with the opulence of the British on the right "British Slavery." The thin, ragged sansculotte with a liberty cap on his head, warms his bare, talon-like feet before a fire, while eating his dinner of raw onions. Behind him snails overflow his chamber pot; above the fireplace a "Map of French Conquests". At his feet a sword lies across a violin like a bow. He extolls the virtues of the National Assembly and new won liberties. In contrast on the right, an obese, red-faced Englishman sits in a luxurious room before a table laden with a tankard of hock and a large joint of beef. His shoes are slashed to relieve his bloated, gouty feet. A gold statute of Britannia adorns the wall above him. He curses his ministry for imposing taxes and starving the British people
Alternative Title:
British slavery
Description:
Title etched below image., Two images on one plate., 1 print : etching on wove paper, hand-colored ; plate mark 25.2 x 35.5 cm, on sheet 27.7 x 39.7 cm., and Mounted on leaf 21 of volume 3 of 12.
Publisher:
Pubd. December 21st, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
Subject (Geographic):
France, France., and Great Britain.
Subject (Topic):
History, Taxation, Britannia (Symbolic character), Liberty, Poverty, Rugs, Taxes, and Wealth
"John Bull, a plebeian, stout and dishevelled, lies on his back on a tangle of large roses with vicious thorns. These are on a heap of stones and under the stump of a decayed oak tree (left). He exclaims: "Oh Lord! Oh Lord! if this be the Bed of Roses they make such a noise about I'd sooner lye with the Old Sow and her Farrow in the Dog Days! - My Dame will roar woundidly when she comes to bed! Ecod it's as bad as lying on a Harrow upside down." The stones (left to right) are 'Expedition to Holland' [1799, see British Museum Satires No. 9412, &c], 'Expedition to Ferrol', 'Jobs and Contracts', 'Pension List', 'Indemnity for the past & Security for the Future', 'No Peace possible with the child and Champion of Jacobinism', 'Places', 'Subsidies'. The roses are: 'Candle Tax', 'Hair Powder Tax', 'Hat Tax', 'Paper Tax', 'Snuff Tax', 'Game Tax', 'Wine Tax', 'Property Tax', 'Salt Tax', 'Land Tax', 'Stamp Tax', 'Assessed Taxes', 'Income Tax', 'Table Beer Tax', 'House Tax', 'Window Tax', 'Excise Duty', 'Horse Tax', 'Tobacco Tax', 'Soap Tax', 'Servant Tax', 'Malt Tax', 'Hop Tax', 'Sugar Tax', 'Legacy Tax', 'Tea Tax', 'Cyder Tax'. On the two extremities of the 'bed' are clusters of thorny buds; these are inscribed '1807', '1808', and [once] '1809', those on the left being labelled 'National Debt'. In the distance St. Paul's is indicated. Bushes on the right are wind-swept."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
John Bull on a bed of roses
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Charles Williams in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed to plate mark leaving thread margins., and Watermark: 181[0?].
Publisher:
Pubd. July 1806 by Wm. Holland, Cockspur Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Topic):
Taxation, John Bull (Symbolic character), Roses, Thorns, and Taxes
"John Bull stands full-face on the pavement outside a shop window, holding on his head a red cap (i.e., bonnet rouge) trimmed with fur of quasi-military, quasi-libertarian shape. He is the yokel with wrinkled gaiters ... with a tattered great-coat held together by a military belt. In his left hand is a ragged hat. He says, with a broad grin: "Wounds, when Master Billy sees I in a Red-Cap, how he will stare! - egad; I thinks I shall cook em at last. - well if I could but once get a Cockade to my Red Cap, & a bit of a Gun - why, I thinks I should make a good stockey Soldier!" The shop is that of 'Billy-Black-Soul [Pitt], Hatter, & Sword-cutler \ Licenced to deal in Hats and Swords.' Above the door (right) are the royal arms and 'Stamp-Office' (the tax on hats being levied by a stamp). Within the window are crossed swords and military cocked hats with a number of stamps bearing the royal arms. In the foreground (left) is a pile of dead cats with a paper: 'List of Cats Killed for making skin caps 20000 Red 5000 Tabb ...'"--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
John Bull evading the hat tax
Description:
Title etched below image. and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pub. April 5th, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond & St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806.
Subject (Topic):
Taxation, Taxation of articles of consumption, Law and legislation, John Bull (Symbolic character), Cats, Hats, Millinery, Slaughtering, Swords, Taxes, Show displays, and Window displays
"John Bull stands full-face on the pavement outside a shop window, holding on his head a red cap (i.e., bonnet rouge) trimmed with fur of quasi-military, quasi-libertarian shape. He is the yokel with wrinkled gaiters ... with a tattered great-coat held together by a military belt. In his left hand is a ragged hat. He says, with a broad grin: "Wounds, when Master Billy sees I in a Red-Cap, how he will stare! - egad; I thinks I shall cook em at last. - well if I could but once get a Cockade to my Red Cap, & a bit of a Gun - why, I thinks I should make a good stockey Soldier!" The shop is that of 'Billy-Black-Soul [Pitt], Hatter, & Sword-cutler \ Licenced to deal in Hats and Swords.' Above the door (right) are the royal arms and 'Stamp-Office' (the tax on hats being levied by a stamp). Within the window are crossed swords and military cocked hats with a number of stamps bearing the royal arms. In the foreground (left) is a pile of dead cats with a paper: 'List of Cats Killed for making skin caps 20000 Red 5000 Tabb ...'"--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
John Bull evading the hat tax
Description:
Title etched below image., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., 1 print : etching with stipple on laid paper, hand-colored ; plate mark 36.3 x 26.0 cm, on sheet 40.2 x 29.5 cm., and Mounted on leaf 25 of volume 4 of 12.
Publisher:
Pub. April 5th, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond & St. James's Street
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Pitt, William, 1759-1806.
Subject (Topic):
Taxation, Taxation of articles of consumption, Law and legislation, John Bull (Symbolic character), Cats, Hats, Millinery, Slaughtering, Swords, Taxes, Show displays, and Window displays
A satirical representation of a procession to St. Paul's for the national thanksgiving for the naval victories. Lord Hawkesbury, Duke of Richmond, Loughborough, Wilberforce, George Rose, Horsely, Bishop of Rochester, John Bull, Pitt, Windham and Dundas (with two companions in traditional Scottish dress) are all recognizable carrying objects that suggest their role in the government policy which led to the tripling of the assessed taxes and the burden of taxation in general
Description:
Title etched below image., Printseller's statement following the imprint: Folios of caricatures lent., "A prelude" has been burnished from plate and etched in again further to the right, leaving a gap at the end of the first part of the title., and For further information consult library staff.
Publisher:
Pub. Decr. 11, 1797 by S.W. Fores, 50 Piccadilly
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Horsley, Samuel, 1733-1806, Jenkinson, Charles, 1727-1808, Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806, Rose, George, 1744-1818, Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 1733-1805, Wilberforce, William, 1759-1833, and Windham, William, 1750-1810
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), Taxation, History, Parades & processions, and Taxes
