The Patriotick Barber of New York, or the Captain in the Suds

Philip Dawe|R. Sayer and J. Bennett

February 14, 1775 · Mezzotint · Drawings and Prints

In this satire, issued in London the year before the outbreak of the American Revolution, Captain John Crozer, commander of a British ship, has been recognized in the barbershop of Jacob Vredenburgh, a New York Son of Liberty who refuses to finish shaving him. The subject demonstrates how New Yorkers refused to cooperate with British troops garrisoned in the city from the autumn of 1774. When the story reached England it inspired this print. The following verse is printed below the image: "Then Patriot grand, maintain thy Stand,/ And whilst thou sav'st Americ's Land,/ Preserve the Golden Rule;--/ Forbid the Captains there to roam,/ Half shave them first; then send 'em home,/ Objects of ridicule." Some of the figures are caricatured, others represented more realistically. The names of Sons of Liberty are inscribed on wig boxes throughout the compostion. Famous defenders of civil liberties, William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, and Charles, 1st Earl Camden are portrayed in prints that hang on the back wall.

Artist

Philip Dawe|R. Sayer and J. Bennett

Date

February 14, 1775

Medium

Mezzotint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883