The tribulations of investors in the Dutch share boom of 1720. Etching, 1720.

The following is based on the British Museum online catalogue. In the right foregound a man is held by two others across a barrel so that he vomits papers related to share schemes; a cock, referring to France, stands within the barrel

Behind stands a group of men, one of whom offers an investment to a country man who refuses it; two others gaze up at a "share cat" sitting on the dead branch of a tree; they ignore their fellow drowning in a river

In the centre, two men and a boy pick up the vomited papers and pass them to a well-dressed man standing with another group on the left. He is approached by an elderly bearded Jew; another man in a dressing-gown and indoor cap holds a paper indicating that he wishes to be rid of his shares and beside him a woman tears papers and throws them into a fire. In the left foreground, a man uses further papers to wipe his backside, having pulled up the skirt of his coat

Above, a man propelled by the wind flies through the air supported by inflated bladders. Beyond, a sphinx throws herself from the top of a rock, at the foot of which stands Oedipus, and another man guarding the entrance to a cave. In the distance, a man rides a goat along the road to the town of Vianen, together with a man and his family; their way is blocked by a barrier guarded by soldiers

[Amsterdam] : [publisher not identified], [1720?]

1 print : etching, with engraving ; platemark 25.7 x 33.5 cm

De schynschoone Actie-Sphinx springt hier zig zelven dood, Zo dra als Edipus het vals geheim ontbloot ... Translation of lettering (to be confirmed): "The beautiful-seeming Share-sphinx jumps to her death as soon as Oedipus makes the false secret null and void". Below the image, engraved Dutch verses printed in four columns

'Het groote tafereel der dwaasheid', Amsterdam, 1720, is a collection of literary and pictorial satires relating to the Dutch speculation bubble of 1720, which occurred simultaneously with the South Sea bubble and the Mississippi bubble involving John Law. This print is one of the many in that collection: see A.H. Cole, op. cit.

Frederik Muller, De nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen. Beredeneerde beschrijving van nederlandsche historieplaten, zinneprenten en historische kaarten, Amsterdam 1863, part 2, no. 3578 (43)

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. 2, London 1978, no. 1677

Arthur H. Cole, The great mirror of folly (Het groote tafereel der dwaasheid). An economic-bibliographical study, Boston 1949, no. 43

Wellcome Collection 812466i