Baking a Batch of Ships

charles john bull making a new batch3.jpg William Charles (1776-1820), John Bull Making a New Batch of Ships To Send To the Lakes, 1814. Etching. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2012-in process

The American caricaturist William Charles drew several prints around the War of 1812. This satire focuses on King George III attempting to restore lost ships after battles on the Great Lakes in 1813 and 1814. Charles was clearly aware of his British contemporaries Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray, and George Cruikshank, who each drew satires using the image of a politician as baker. Here are a few other caricatures with the same iconography.

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Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827), High Fun for John Bull or the Republicans Put to their Last Shift, 1798. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895. Graphic Arts Collection GC112

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James Gillray (1756-1815), Tiddy-Doll, the Great French-Gingerbread-Baker; Drawing Out a New Batch of Kings, 1806. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895. Graphic Arts Collection GC108

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George Cruikshank (1792-1878), The Allied Bakers or, The Corsican Toad in the Hole, 1814. (c) British Museum

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George Cruikshank (1792-1878), Broken Gingerbread, 1814. (c) British Museum