Artwork
French Liberty and British Slavery
French Liberty and British Slavery is a watercolor print by the Romanticist artist James Gillray. It dates from 1792 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:in image, on left: "O Sacre Dieu! - vat blessing be de Liberte/ vive le Assemblè Nationale! - no more Tax! / no more Slavery! - all Free Citizen! ha hah! / by Gar, how ve live! - ve svim in de Milk & Honey!"; in image, on wall: Map of the French Conquests; lower center: FRENCH LIBERTY; lower center in plate: Js. Gy. desn. et fect. pro bono publico- / London. Pubd. December 21, 1792, by H. Humphrey N. 18 Old Bond Street; right in image: BRITANNIA / STERLING; "Ah! this cursed Ministry! they'll ruin / us, with their damn'd Taxes! / -why, Zounds! - they're making Slaves of / us all, & Starving us to Death!"; lower right in plate: BRITISH SLAVERY; by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: earliest printing and colouring / 1211 2 BEHM
About this work
Overview
The 1792 print French Liberty and British Slavery is an etching by English caricaturist James Gillray, later hand‑colored with watercolor by the publisher. Executed on laid paper, the work juxtaposes two grotesquely rendered figures in a chaotic kitchen, each labeled to critique contemporary political conditions in France and Britain.
Subject & Meaning
Opposite her, a bald man in a blue coat greedily stuffs food into his mouth beside a pot and a cat.
On the left, a woman dressed in a flamboyant red hat and pink gown clutches a rooster while a burning map of France looms behind her, her expression one of alarm. Opposite her, a bald man in a blue coat greedily stuffs food into his mouth beside a pot and a cat. The captions French Liberty and British Slavery invert the ideals each nation claimed, satirizing the perceived hypocrisy of revolutionary France and the slave‑holding British establishment.
Technique & Style
Gillray employed a traditional copper‑plate etching process, then the publisher added watercolor washes to accentuate the figures and background. The hand‑coloring highlights the vivid red hat, the flames, and the chaotic kitchen details, while the line work retains Gillray’s characteristic exaggeration and energetic hatching that convey movement and disorder.
Context
Created during the early years of the French Revolution, the print reflects the intense political debate in Britain over French reforms and the nation’s own involvement in the trans‑Atlantic slave trade. Gillray’s satirical prints circulated widely, influencing public opinion and offering a visual commentary on the clash between revolutionary ideals and British economic interests.
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Artist & collection
Artist
James Gillray (13 August 1756 – 1 June 1815) was an English caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810.
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