The Tea-Tax-Tempest (The Oracle)

John Dixon

1774 · Mezzotint with gouache; scratched proof · Drawings and Prints

This allegorical scene captures a British artist’s response to the American Revolution. Father Time, at left, holds up a magic lantern (an early image projector) to reveal a view of the destruction of Britain with heraldic leopards fighting. America sits in the shadows, at right, wearing products from her realm: a string of pearls, a feathered headdress, and an animal-skin wrap. Her physical separation from her companions, representing Europe, Asia, and Africa, suggests the impending imperial rupture. Using gouache paint, an unknown artist altered Dixon’s original mezzotint print, which depicts a hopeful resolution to the conflict, to reveal anxiety about the outcome.

Artist

John Dixon

Date

1774

Medium

Mezzotint with gouache; scratched proof

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883