The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering

Attributed to Philip Dawe British
 Publisher Robert Sayer and John Bennett British

Not on view

This pre-American Revolution satire published in London shows John Malcom, British customs agent in Massachusetts, tarred, feathered, and forced to drink tea. The event of January 24, 1774 occurred soon after the Boston Tea party of December 16, 1773 where colonists famously dumped imported tea into the harbor to protest a tax levied by the British Parliament. This is the earliest known representation of the later event with strong tonal contrasts and broad details produced by a worn printing plate.

The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, Attributed to Philip Dawe (British, 1745?–?1809), Mezzotint and etching

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