Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg, Virginia
Record No
18377
Title
Williamsburg, Virginia
Description
This untitled watercolour was the basis for a popular print of 1775 called 'The Alternative of Williamsburg' (the V&A hold a copy). It shows violent political developments in the period between the Boston tea Party of December 1773, when American Colonists destroyed a cargo of East India Company tea in protest against taxes imposed on them, and the start of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). After the Boston Tea Party the British Government introduced punitive measures against the American colonies and the Continental Congress reacted by passing resolutions to ban imports and exports of goods between America and Britain.

The pen, ink and watercolour artwork shows a scene in Williamsburg, Virginia where patriots who support Congress's resolutions are forcing unwilling merchants to sign up to them. The bundle of papers on top of the barrels has 'Resolves of the Congress' written on it. Tar and feathers are suspended from a gallows in the right background as a threat to anyone who would not sign. The export ban included tobacco, but a barrel in the foreground is marked as a present to John Wilkes (1725 - 1797). Wilkes was a controversial and radical British politician who among other things championed government reform for both Britain and the American colonies. He also spoke out against the American Revolutionary War over the following years. At the time of this satirical image Wilkes was both Lord Mayor of the City of London and Member of Parliament for the County of Middlesex.

The statue in the left background is of Norborne Berkeley, Lord Botetourt (1717 - 1770), who was a popular governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. A later statue of Botetourt still stands in Williamsburg today.

Samuel Hieronymous Grimm (1733 - 1794) was a Swiss-born artist who settled in London in 1765. Grimm specialised in topographical landscapes, but sometimes produced caricatures and humorous works about the society of his day.
Date of execution
1775
Section
The London Archives
Collection
Satirical Print Collection
Artist
Grimm, Samuel Hieronymus (1733-1794)
Notes
Previously this watercolour was wrongly identified as showing a British Parliamentary election in the County of Middlesex, because it was thought to refer primarily to John Wilkes, who had become both Lord Mayor of London and M.P. for Middlesex in 1774.
Medium
ink/pen/watercolour
Support
paper
Longest dimension
20cms
Shortest dimension
15cms
Picture type
satire
Catalogue No
p5383632
Subjects
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