The Ballance [sic] of Power
January 17, 1781
![The Ballance [sic] of Power by R. S.|Robert Wilkinson](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/dp/thumb/the-ballance-sic-of-power-389019.webp)
Medium
Etching, hand colored
Dimensions
plate: 9 13/16 x 13 3/4 in. (24.9 x 35 cm) sheet: 10 15/16 x 18 3/16 in. (27.8 x 46.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924
Accession Number
24.90.1451
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in the midst of the American Revolutionary War *The Ballance [sic] Power* is a hand-colored etching by British printmaker and publisher Robert Wilkinson (often signed R.S.), dated January 17, 1781. Measuring nearly 10 by 18 inches on its sheet, this satirical print from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection uses the visual metaphor of scales to lampoon political figures and the precarious "balance" of international power. The deliberate archaic spelling of "Ballance" adds a layer of wry commentary, evoking historical weight in a time of upheaval. Wilkinson's ...
About the Artist
R. S.|Robert Wilkinson ( ) · –