General Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire Works

General Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire Works

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

At left, Lord Chatham, with his sword drawn, flies across the Channel towards the English coast on a wooden horse with feathered wings. Chatham addresses John Bull and his wife who stand on the shore (right) looking up at him: "Here I am my Dear Johnny escaped from Fire, Water, Plague, Pestilence & Famine My Fireworks have given general Satisfaction abroad,—I must now Couch on a bed of Roses— and hope when I awake to be rewarded with a Pension and Dukedom for brilliant Services." John holds out a cudgel, clenches his fist, and responds: "General Cheathem flying back as I foretold garnish'd with dross and Dutch Metal Where is the Ten Million of British Bullion you Scarecrow—the Sinking Fund suits your talents better than Sinking of Ships". His wife, holding up a parasol, exclaims: "Lord Mr Bull what a Man of Mettle it is." A small ship heads toward the shore at right, with a sail inscribed "Commodore Cur-Tis." Curtis waves his hat and shouts: "A New Contract for Mouldy Buisciuts—Expeditions for ever Huzza."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

General Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire WorksGeneral Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire WorksGeneral Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire WorksGeneral Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire WorksGeneral Cheathem's Marvellous Return from His Exhibition of Fire Works

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.