AMERICA in FLAMES.

DateDecember 1774

MediumEtching on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 5 3/4 × 3 5/8in. (14.6 × 9.2cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-51

DescriptionThis relief cut was published in Town and Country Magazine. An old woman, America, is engulfed by flames as her foes add more fuel to the fire. Bute, in highland dress, pumps a bellows labeled "Quebec Bill" representing the act that had given some northern colonial territory to French Canada. Mansfield, abetted by the Devil, fans the flame with "Massachusetts Bay", a reference to the many troubles harassing the colony. Standing beside America, North holds the Boston Port Bill that had just closed the harbor. A teapot from which liquid is spilling rolls down the steps in front of America to symbolize the Boston Tea Party. Beside and in front of America her friends attempt to extinguish the flames, but to little avail.ProvenanceBefore 1960, H. Dunscombe Colt [1901-1973] (New York, NY); before 1960, purchased by the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1960-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).