A Tub for the Whale!
published March 14, 1806
Medium
Hand-colored etching and aquatint on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 23.2 × 35 cm (9 3/16 × 13 13/16 in.); Plate: 24.5 × 35.4 cm (9 11/16 × 13 15/16 in.); Sheet: 25.8 × 37.5 cm (10 3/16 × 14 13/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
61429
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
James Gillray’s political satires often included biblical and nautical references. This etching bears a lengthy secondary title, which may have clarified the subject matter for contemporaries: “Representing an Empty-Barrel tossed out to amuse the great Leviathan John-Bull, in order to divert him from instantly laying violent hands upon the new Coalition Packet.” The monstrous whale with “John Bull” horns symbolizes the British nation (as personified by the heroic and comedic archetype, John Bull...