The Thunder Clap, 1742

The Thunder Clap, George Forster, 1742, British Museum.

As in Samuel Lyne's Bob the Political Ballance Master, Forster takes aim at the Walpole administration with a political cartoon that skewers them on their failure to protect oceanic trade. Only in this piece, Forster accompanies it with a lengthy diatribe in text below.

A master and sailor hold up a painting of a warships with their sails furled or turned away, and a slim privateer sloop crowded with men interrupting the frame. Pointing to the "Spaniard," a sailor (possibly a master) states "O such a powerful fleet : and yet -"

He wears a reversed cocked hat, bob wig, frock coat with open mariner's cuffs, a short neck cloth tied close, and breeches.

Just to be sure we don't miss his meaning, Forster has attached a short diddy to the bottom of the painting:

And see de little Privateer o.
Who on our Coats its Course doth steer o
And dis widout ought dread or fear o
par, par, par, &c.

Holding up the other side of the canvas is a common sailor who comments "the world's surprize." His hatlead head is topped by a mix of curled hair, and around his neck is another short neck cloth. His single breasted jacket is tucked into trousers that run down to the bottom of his calf.