About this image...

Image Title: The Budget, 1781

Date: 1781 March 1.

Summary: Print shows three headless men riding on the back of a two-headed beast which says, "I will support my friends, I have head enough for them all"; with one arm it devours a paper labeled "20 millions more" and with the other arm it claws at the breast of Britannia; at the tail end of the beast is a head that resembles a tiger disgorging empty purses; in the foreground, is a table set for a meal with an infant on a platter, demons and human figures with claws partake of the meal; boxes of sugar, salt, and barrels of alcoholic beverages are to the right and left of the table. Printed between two columns of letterpress text which presents reasons for the state of the budget.

Notes: Published in: The American Revolution in drawings and prints; a checklist of 1765-1790 graphics in the / Compiled by Donald H. Cresswell, with a foreword by Sinclair H. Hitchings. Washington : [For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.], 1975, no. 788.

Subjects: Government spending policy--England--1780-1790
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783

Original Media: Etching

Collections: Cartoon Prints, British » more info...

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