The Patriotick Barber of New York, or the Captain in the Suds

As reports of American colonial resistance to British taxes reached London, the publishers Sayer and Bennett responded with five mezzotints, produced between October 1774 and March 1775. The unsigned works probably were designed and engraved by the adept satirist Philip Dawe. An incident in a New York, reported in London newspapers, inspired this third print in the series that demonstrates how colonists actively refused to cooperate with British troops garrisoned in the city from autumn 1774.

Set in the barbershop of Jacob Vredenburgh, a New York Son of Liberty, the scene pits the barber against Captain John Crozer, the commander of a British merchant vessel. As the captain enjoys an incognito shave, he receives a message which reveals his loyalties, prompting Vredenburgh to eject his suds-covered customer into the street. Barbershops functioned as informal male gathering places where political discussion flourished, and wig boxes on shelves, and piled at left, bear the names of eleven local Sons of Liberty. Portraits on the wall of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, and Charles Pratt, 1st Earl of Camden—British Whig politicians who supported American liberties and opposed colonial taxes—underscore the barber’s sympathies. The text of a pro-American speech famously delivered by Pitt just before his death hangs near his image, and a paper titled "The Articles of Association," at right, evokes anti-British boycotts recently endorsed by the First Continental Congress (see 24.90.31–24.90.35 for all the prints in the Sayer and Bennett series).