File:The flight of the Congress (BM 1868,0808.4556).jpg
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Captions
Summary
editThe flight of the Congress ( ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Title |
The flight of the Congress |
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Description |
English: Animals in a wooded landscape with a mountainous background. Howe, as a lion, chasing (left to right.) the American leaders in the shape of different animals. The scene is in front of a wooded mound in which is a cave inscribed "Cave of Rebellion. Resolv'd, nem: con never to run away". On the mound grows 'Liberty Tree', a tree inscribed "Liberty"; a squirrel sits on a branch scattering papers, inscribed "Paper Currency", "30 dollers", "100 dollers", &c. An opossum is climbing up the trunk. A roaring lion advances into the picture, his breath inscribed "How"; one paw is on a squared sheet of paper, inscribed "Philadelphia, Delawar ..." The animals he chases are: an ass with a lion's skin on its back, inscribed, "I. Hancock Pres"; a tiger, "Laurens"; an armadillo, "Washington"; two foxes with collars round their necks, inscribed respectively "Adams" and "[A]dam[s]", evidently intended for John and Samuel Adams; a pig or wild boar is "Putnam"; a wolf is "Lee"; a stag whose collar is inscribed "V... D". (? Francis Van Dyke, a New York patriot); a puma and a badger (?) without names. In the air (left) an eagle clutches in beak and claws a rattlesnake inscribed "Independence"; and (right) an owl flies away holding a paper, inscribed "Louis Baboon a Paris". In the background (left) is sketched a ship in full sail. Beneath the design verses are engraved:
Etching |
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Depicted people | Representation of: John Adams | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Date |
1777 date QS:P571,+1777-00-00T00:00:00Z/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 |
1868,0808.4556 |
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Notes |
(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', V, 1935) This represents the occupation of Philadelphia by Howe in Sept. 1777 after the victory of Brandywine. In November there were reports in England of great successes over Washington which were not confirmed, Howe failing to bring him to a general action. In the meantime the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, 17 Oct. (see BMSat 5470), had disastrously altered the situation, but news of this did not reach London till 2 Dec. (see BMSat 5408). The owl flying to Louis XVI probably represents Benjamin Franklin's mission to France, where he arrived at the end of 1776. The 'baboon king' is the king of France, 'Lewis Baboon' of Arbuthnot's 'Law is a Bottomless Pit', 1712, but the alliance was not decided on until Dec. 1777 and not signed until 6 Feb. 1778. Lafayette had sailed for America in Apr. 1777 without the formal consent of the French Government. The rattlesnake was an emblem of the colonies and was on the earliest naval flag of the Americans, see BMSat 5336, 5973, &c. One of the few satires hostile to the Americans, cf. BMSat 5329, 5482, 5704, 5853, 6288. Reproduced, 'Propylaën-Weltgeschichte', ed. W. Goetz, vi. 481; S. G. Fisher, 'True History of the American Revolution', 1902, p. 346. |
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Source/Photographer | https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-4556 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Permission (Reusing this file) |
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
Licensing
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File history
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 21:00, 15 May 2020 | 2,500 × 1,756 (1.47 MB) | Copyfraud (talk | contribs) | British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1777 #10,876/12,043 |
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Orientation | Normal |
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Horizontal resolution | 300 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 300 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 |
File change date and time | 14:37, 26 September 2005 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |