The Bostonians in Distress
Johann Martin Will, German, 1727 - 1806
1774
Mezzotint on laid paper
Sight: 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Sight: 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm)
Sheet: 13 1/2 × 10 in. (34.3 × 25.4 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Julia L. Whittier Fund
PR.964.113
Geography
Place Made: England, United Kingdom, Europe
Period
1600-1800
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in plate, lower center: THE BOSTONIANS IN DISTRESS./ Plate II. London, Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, Map & Printsellers, No. 53 Fleet Street, as the Act directs, 19 Nov.r 1774.
Label
In the years just before the start of the American Revolution, political cartoons were popular on both sides of the Atlantic. This print is a copy after one of the most popular images lampooning the British military; it was made in Germany for the English market. After the Boston Tea Party in late 1773, the English had set up a blockade around the city, attempting to choke off all trade. Here the Bostonians are kept in a cage, English cannons pointing at them and soldiers at the ready. Yet three fishermen bring them food. The cage is hung from the Liberty Tree, but the branch is dead, suggesting the Bostonians will not be captive for much longer. Prints such as this one suggested support for the American cause and British weakness in the face of homegrown resistance.
From the 2025-26 exhibition Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, curated by Michael W. Hartman (Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections), and Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow)
Exhibition History
Lower Jewett Corridor, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 23-March 21, 1976.
Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, Harteveldt Family Gallery and Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 18, 2025 - August 8, 2026.
Provenance
Raymond G. Clifton (1895-1968), Pine Cupboard Antique Shop, Franklin, New Hampshire; sold to present collection, 1964.
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