"Het loos bedrog van Engelandt".

Engraving, 39 x 31 cm, 2 sheets pasted together (trimmed to platemark, sm. repairs on verso).

Good copy.

Satire on the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654). The Dutch lion (E) is rocked to sleep by the Spanish fox (P). Behind the cradle a group of Dutchmen (L, M, K, I) discussing the commercial disadvantages of war, a boy, Robert (B), possibly intended as Cromwell's son Richard, picks the pocket of one of them. On the right Cromwell (D) confides his plans to another man. On the left the British monkey (named as Yzegrim) on a throne, wearing a papal crown and peacock feathers (F) casts mice to a cat, bones to a dog, seeds to a peacock and a honeycomb to a sheep (G). This print includes the text sheet with title which relates the allegorical scene in a Dutch poem. This text sheet is often missing from the print.
Ref. Muller 2039. - Van Stolk 2185. - Not in Hollstein.