Philip Dawe
The Bostonians Paying the Excise Man, or Tarring and Feathering

Public Domain

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ArtistAttributed to Philip DaweEnglish, c. 1750–c. 1785

CultureEnglish

Titles

The Bostonians Paying the Excise Man, or Tarring and Feathering

Date1774

PlaceLondon, England

MediumMezzotint with engraving and watercolor on laid paper

Dimensions14 7/8 × 10 3/8 in. (37.8 × 26.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Trunkline Gas

Object numberB.85.4

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionIn January of 1774, Bostonians tarred and feathered British customs official John Malcolm after he argued with and struck another man, George Hewes, in an altercation over the way Malcolm had mistreated a young boy. In this print, one figure holds Malcolm by a noose around his neck, holding a club in his other hand. Another forces tea down Malcolm’s throat. The figures are gathered beneath the Liberty Tree; a copy of the Stamp Act is nailed to the tree, recalling the hated tax of 1765. Action in the background depicts the Boston Tea Party, which had taken place in Boston the month before.
ProvenanceAcquired on March 19, 1985, from Ronald Bourgeault, Hampton, N.H.
Exhibition History"Theta Charity Antiques Show 1989," Houston, September 13–17, 1989.

"Radicals and Revolutionaries: America's Founding Fathers," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 10–May 28, 2018.

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