The State Watchman Discovered by the Genius of Britain Studying Plans for the Reduction of America
December 10, 1781
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
oval image: 5 9/16 x 5 1/4 in. (14.1 x 13.4 cm) sheet: 7 11/16 x 6 5/8 in. (19.5 x 16.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883
Accession Number
83.2.2096
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the midst of the American Revolutionary War British satirist Thomas Rowlandson, in collaboration with J. Jones created this etching on December 10, 1—a pivotal moment just months after the British defeat at Yorktown.itled *The State Watchman Disc by the Genius of Britain Plans for the Reduction of*, the oval composition (5 9/16 x 5 1/4 in.) captures a humorous, biting scene of political folly. A dozing "State Watchman likely a caricature of a complacent British official, is caught poring over invasion schemes by the ethereal "Genius of Britain," a personified figure symbolizing the nation's...
About the Artist
J. Jones|Thomas Rowlandson (British|British) · 1777 |1757 –1781 |1827
British, active 1777–81|British, London 1757–1827 London