Defrauding the Customs, or Shipping the Goods Not Fairly Entered
March 1, 1815
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Plate: 9 5/8 × 13 9/16 in. (24.5 × 34.5 cm) Sheet: 10 3/8 × 14 3/8 in. (26.3 × 36.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.1563
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Rowlandson's *Defrauding the Customs, or Shipping the Goods Not Fair Entered* (1815) is a lively hand-colored etching that captures the cheeky world of Regency-era smuggling with his signature satirical flair. Published on March 1, 181, amid Britain's post-Napoleonic economic recovery, the print pokes fun at evading customs duties—a common gripe as trade boomed and taxes tightened. Rowlandson, a master caricaturist of the Georgian period, fills the scene with exaggerated figures of men and women conspiring to "ship goods not fairly entered," blending humor with sharp social commentary o...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...