The American Rattle Snake (April 12, 1782, Met-Objekt 4325)
Original title: The American Rattle Snake
kurzbeschreibung
James Gillray's etching The American Rattle Snake is dated 12 April 1782. It shows a snake winding its coils around a set of fields. The sheet reads as a satirical allegory on the American colonies and their political situation.
Description
Several loops of the snake encircle a row of fields; the head points downward, the forked tongue clearly drawn. Mountains and a cloudy sky form the backdrop. About midway along the snake sits a shield inscribed 'An Apartment is for more than one'. Plants and stones are scattered across the ground, and lines of text run along the bottom edge. The image stays black and white, with even light and no shading.
Context
The print was made in 1782, during the American War of Independence. Gillray, a British caricaturist, took up the tensions between Britain and its American colonies. The snake served as a symbol of the colonies, a motif that goes back to Benjamin Franklin's 'Join or Die' cartoon of 1754. The inscription and the fields point to disputes over land and trade.
Impact
The dense drawing and the emblematic imagery are quickly impressed on the memory. By making the snake appear both threatening and orderly, Gillray creates a tension that cannot be neatly resolved. The historical context gives the sheet a political bite that is still legible today.
Technique
The drawing was etched into a copper plate, an intaglio process in which the lines are worked into the metal. Gillray's hand shows in fine, precisely placed strokes. The plate underwent partial cropping, which yields the dimensions of 8 5/8 x 12 11/16 inches.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)