Anti-Sacharrites, - or - John Bull and His Family Leaving off the Use of Sugar

James Gillray, 1756–1815, British, Anti-Sacharrites, - or - John Bull and His Family Leaving off the Use of Sugar, 1792

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Creator:: James Gillray, 1756–1815
Title:: Anti-Sacharrites, - or - John Bull and His Family Leaving off the Use of Sugar
Date:: 1792
Materials & Techniques:: Etching, hand-colored
Dimensions:: Sheet: 12 3/8 x 15 5/8in. (31.4 x 39.7cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:: Lettered, upper center: "Anti-Sacharrites, or -John Bull and his family leaving off the Use of Sugar. | To the Masters & Mistresses of Families of Great Britain, this Noble Example of Œconomy, is respectfully sumbitted"; center left:" 'O delicious! delicious!'"; center: "'O my dear Creatures, do but Taste it! | you can't think how nice it is without Sugar: | and then consider how much Work you'll save the poor | Blackeemoores by leaving off the use of it! - and above | all, remember how much expence it will save your | poor Papa! O its charming cooling Drink!'" ; lower center: "Pub. March 27th 1792 by H. Humphrey N°. 18. Old Bond Street"
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1981.25.970
Classification:: Prints
Collection:: Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:: caricature | caricatures | princesses | satire
Associated People:: George III (1738–1820), king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and king of Hanover
Charlotte (1744–1818), queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and queen of Hanover, consort of George III
Access:: Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
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Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:44124
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On April 2, 1792, William Wilberforce presented a motion in the House of Commons that proposed the gradual abolition of slavery. James Gillray's caricature, published just a few days earlier, cleverly satirizes Wilberforce's gradualist approach by referencing the abolitionists' strategy of abstaining from sugar in order to undermine the financial basis for slavery. Gillray pictures the royal family testing its resolve. George iii, depicted as John Bull, is apparently sipping unsweetened tea, setting an example for the royal couple's six daughters (and, by extension, "to the Masters & Mistresses of Families of Great Britain"). Despite the queen's encouragements, the princesses are seemingly unwilling to let go of sugar, though women, in fact, were at the forefront of the boycotting campaign in Britain.

Gallery label for Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and his Worlds (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-09-27 - 2007-12-30)

Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and his Worlds (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-09-27 - 2007-12-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Timothy J. Barringer, Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2007, p. 305, no. 34, N8243 S576 B37 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

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