File:The Bostonians in distress (BM 1877,1013.854 1).jpg
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Captions
Summary
[edit]The Bostonians in distress ( ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Title |
The Bostonians in distress |
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Description |
English: A cage inscribed "Boston" hangs from a branch of "Libert[y] Tree". In it are ten hungry Bostonians being fed with fish by three men standing in a boat, at the side of the peninsula on which the tree stands. The men in the cage are lean with lank hair and of puritanic appearance. Those in the front who have secured fish are thrusting them into their mouths, others with wide open mouths and clasped hands beg to be fed. They crouch forward to take the fish which are thrust between the bars in open boxes at the end of poles. One of the Bostonians stands in the centre with uplifted right hand, holding ou in his left hand a paper inscribed: "They cried unto the Lord in their Trouble & he saved them out of their Distress Psal[m] cvii. 13". He wears a minister's bands, and his expression and open-wide mouth shows that he is making a loud lamentation. On the left a man who is eating a fish held on the end a pole has thrust his hand through the bars, holding a large bundle of neatly folded documents inscribed "Promises". On the right. two men are fighting for a fish, one holds it tight, the other has seized him by the hair and tries to take it from him.
Mezzotint |
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Date |
1774 date QS:P571,+1774-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 |
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Medium | paper | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dimensions |
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Collection |
institution QS:P195,Q6373 |
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Current location |
Prints and Drawings |
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Accession number |
1877,1013.854 |
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Notes |
(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', V, 1935) One of a series, see pp. 169, 196-7, BMSat 5284. When the Port of Boston was closed (see BMSat 5230, &c.) many were in distress owing to lack of employment and the expense of conveying merchandise by land from Salem. Gifts of food, &c, were sent from all places on the continent, including a contribution of "two hundred and seven quintals of codfish" from Marblehead, noted in the English press. In the summer of 1774 Gage ordered some regiments of foot with artillery to be sent to Boston; they were encamped on the ground between the town and the narrow neck of ground, then called Boston Neck, connecting it with the mainland, and a guard was placed there to prevent desertion. This was magnified into an attempt to cut the communication between Boston and its hinterland and to reduce the town by famine. Stedman, 'History of the American War', 1794, i. 98. 'Liberty Tree', a rallying point for patriots, was cut down for fuel while the British were blockaded in Boston in the winter of 1775-6. Knowledge of America is shown by the depiction of the Bostonians as undergoing the punishment given in the Colonies to slaves convicted of capital offences who were thus imprisoned and left to starve to death. The artist's irony seems directed against both sides, the English soldiers who direct their cannon at 'Liberty Tree', while the cage, symbol of slavery and barbarity, hangs on Liberty Tree. Reproduced R. T. Halsey, 'The Boston Port Bill', p. 172. (Supplementary information) It has been attributed to P.Dawe. |
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Source/Photographer | https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1877-1013-854 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Permission (Reusing this file) |
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Other versions |
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Licensing
[edit]This image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
This tag is designed for use where there may be a need to assert that any enhancements (eg brightness, contrast, colour-matching, sharpening) are in themselves insufficiently creative to generate a new copyright. It can be used where it is unknown whether any enhancements have been made, as well as when the enhancements are clear but insufficient. For known raw unenhanced scans you can use an appropriate {{PD-old}} tag instead. For usage, see Commons:When to use the PD-scan tag. Note: This tag applies to scans and photocopies only. For photographs of public domain originals taken from afar, {{PD-Art}} may be applicable. See Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag. |
File history
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 10:39, 14 May 2020 | 1,565 × 2,165 (624 KB) | Copyfraud (talk | contribs) | British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1774 image 2 of 2 #8,339/12,043 |
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Orientation | Normal |
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Horizontal resolution | 150 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 150 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 |
File change date and time | 14:56, 4 February 2004 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |