The Tea-Tax-Tempest (The Oracle)

Publisher John Dixon Irish

1774

Not on view

This allegorical scene captures a British artist’s response to the American Revolution. Father Time, at left, holds up a magic lantern (an early image projector) to reveal a view of the destruction of Britain with heraldic leopards fighting. America sits in the shadows, at right, wearing products from her realm: a string of pearls, a feathered headdress, and an animal-skin wrap. Her physical separation from her companions, representing Europe, Asia, and Africa, suggests the impending imperial rupture. Using gouache paint, an unknown artist altered Dixon’s original mezzotint print, which depicts a hopeful resolution to the conflict, to reveal anxiety about the outcome.

Artwork Details

Title: The Tea-Tax-Tempest (The Oracle)
Artist: John Dixon (Irish, Dublin ca. 1740–1811 London)
Publisher: John Dixon (Irish, Dublin ca. 1740–1811 London)
Date: 1774
Medium: Mezzotint with gouache; scratched proof
Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed within plate): 20 1/2 × 23 3/8 in. (52.1 × 59.4 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883
Object Number: 83.2.2083
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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