The Repeal, or the Funeral of Miss Ame-Stamp

Carington Bowles I|Anonymous, British, 18th century

1766 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints

British politicians are imagined processing through the London docks to mourn the repeal of the Stamp Act on March 18, 1766. A year before, Parliament had imposed this excise tax on printed goods imported to the American colonies. Resulting boycotts led British merchants to pressure the government for repeal, and this anti-tax image mocks the act’s leading supporters. Behind two flag bearers, George Grenville (dismissed as chief minister in 1765) carries a small coffin marked "Miss Ame[rica] Stamp." He is followed by Lord Bute, another former chief minister identified by his Scottish bonnet and tartan suit. The London publisher Carington Bowles borrowed the composition from a print issued by a rival that sold thousands of copies. It uses the language of political satire Romeyn de Hooghe developed in Holland, combined with a simple dramatic structure that makes the elaborate allegory easy to understand.

Artist

Carington Bowles I|Anonymous, British, 18th century

Date

1766

Medium

Hand-colored etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Walter L. Hildberg, 1923