The Tea-Tax-Tempest, or Old Time with his Magick Lanthern

Anonymous, British, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print is a reduced and altered copy of an allegorical mezzotint by John Dixon, published in London in 1774, just before the American Revolution. Father Time holds up a magic lantern (an early image projector) to reveal a view of the destruction of Britain, as America sits in the shadows. The present image is less heavily shaded than its source, and a large text bubble has been added next to Time, saying, "There you see the little Hot Spit Fire Tea pot that has done all the Mischief - There you see the Old British Lion basking before the American Bon Fire whilst the French Cock is blowing up a Storm about his Ears to Destroy him and his young Welpes - there you See Miss America grasping at the Cap of Liberty - There you see The British Forces be yok'd and be cramp'd flying before the Congress Men - There you see the thirteen Stripes and Rattle-Snake exalted - There you see the Stamp'd Paper help to Make the Pot Boil - There you See &c &c &c."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art