"Fox, in a diver's dress which leaves his face and hands bare, stands on the bed of the ocean, speaking, through a tube inscribed 'Haul up', to his assistants in a boat; these haul on a pulley attached to the mast of the boat, but cut off by the upper margin. Fox has fastened the rope to a chest inscribed '10 Per Cent'; this, with an anchor inscribed 'Pig Iron' and three barrels, one inscribed 'Beer Tax', lies on the ocean bed. He turns his back on the dead body of John Bull, lying on his back, beside the wrecked hull of the 'Constitution Cutter - John Bull commander (whose cargo he is seizing); only the top of the mast projects above the surface of the 'Ocean of Taxation'; on this a carrion bird perches, another flies towards it. The boat from which Fox has descended is 'The Experiment'; in it are salvaged money-bags inscribed '10 Pr Cent'; its crew are (l. to r.), Windham (?), Sheridan, Erskine, and Petty."--British Museum online catalogue.
Description:
Attributed to Rowlandson by Grego., Title etched below image., and Year of publication from British Museum catalogue.
Subject (Name):
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley--Ownership., Erskine, Thomas Erskine,--Baron,--1750-1823--Caricatures and cartoons., Fox, Charles James,--1749-1806--Caricatures and cartoons., Harvey, Francis--Ownership., Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice,--Marquess of,--1780-1863--Caricatures and cartoons., Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,--1751-1816--Caricatures and cartoons., and Windham, William,--1750-1810--Caricatures and cartoons.
Subject (Topic):
Barrels. , Diving suits., John Bull (Symbolic character)--Caricatures and cartoons., and Shipwrecks.
