Henry Dawkins (American/British, 1713-1813), circa 1773-1774, Political cartoon depicting the Boston Tea Party, engraving on laid paper with encircled symmetrical grape cluster watermark, plate 9-7/8 x 13-5/8 in.; sheet 10-3/4 x 14-3/4 in.; 18th century style frame by Perry Hopf, 13-1/8 x 17-1/4 x 1 in.

Provenance: Eldred's Auction, Massachusetts, The Fall Sale Day I November 19-20, 2020, lot. 393, sold for $25,000 (accompanied by facsimile of catalog listing); Private New England Collection

Note: In a note for Princeton University's copy, it states, "most important is the inventive iconography and compelling narrative of this rare political print. The artist’s opposing scenes concern the American resistance, beginning late 1773 and early 1774, to the tea tax and the East India Company monopoly, presumably engraved shortly after the Boston Tea Party but before news arrived of the retaliatory "Intolerable Acts" that would close the Port of Boston. There is no evidence that Dawkins produce it as a magazine illustration or book frontispiece but rather printed it on his own, as one of the few large, separate engravings of the American Revolutionary period.

Each of the historical figures is identified from a key provided at the bottom, including Lord North, Lord Bute, John Kearsley, John Vardill, the Duke of Richmond, and others (18 in all). Interspersed with the living characters are allegorical figures, such as Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils, who whispers to Kearsley, "Speak in favor of ye [the] Scheme Now’s the time to push your fortune” and Kearsley replies "Gov T[ryon] will cram the Tea down the Throat of the New Yorkers."

For another copy see Christies, January 22, 2021, lot 308, which sold for $43,750 (https://www.eldreds.com/auction-lot/extremely-rare-and-important-political-cartoon-of_6804E7A8DD)

Reference: https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2021/02/24/liberty-triumphant-or-the-downfall-of-oppression/