Wind as an analogy for speculative short-selling in the Dutch financial crisis of 1720-1721, and a warning to John Law about the indulgences of Shrove Tuesday. Etching, 1721.

Two plates, one forming a border around the other. The central plate appears to be a pagan scene by Bernard Picart with elements added to introduce the themes of deceit and of wind as an analogy for speculative short-selling. It shows Cupid teaching a satyr to play the pan-pipes; they are watched by a a naked nymph peering from behind a tree with a bearded man at her side. Added elements include: (top left) a money bag and caduceus held by a flying cupid, and (top right), a winged monkey with human head blowing bellows; a mask (representing deceit) lying beside the satyr; (right) the heads of two winds; (bottom left), a fox with a builder's level and a cornucopia, and (bottom right) a sculptural relief with two unidentified figures, on prone, one standing (possibly Apollo or Athene standing on Comus, as suggested in the British Museum catalogue, loc. cit.)

The outer plate, containing the border, consists of strapwork peopled by dwarfs designed by Jacques Callot. At the top, an elaborate pie topped by a cock in a cartouche represents a French dish cooked in the Scottish manner for Shrove Tuesday (referring to John Law's activities in France); it has an owl's head above. Left, a disconsolate dwarf looks at a bagel beside which rests a book; right, a dwarf with a long moustache and a feathered hat looks at a sausage beside which rests a mask also with a long moustache

The strapwork down either side contains objects for indulgence in anticipation of Lent, as follows: on the left, fish, a tobacco pipe, edible birds on a skewer, a flask, a cheese board, a bunch of carrots; on the right, a pheasant, a guitar, a flageolet, a purse, playing-cards and dice and a drinking glass

At the bottom, a dwarf acrobat of Chinese appearance stands on his hands with his legs bent over his head; the lettering describing him as the "English posture master" identifies him as Robert Knight, cashier of the South Sea Company, who fled abroad on 22 January 1721 (British Museum catalogue, loc. cit.). At the bottom left and right, supporting the strapwork, are two pedestals with reliefs of Heraclitus weeping and Democritus grinning; on top of the left pedestal is a snail and a sponge, and on top of the right one a tazza with flowers, representing melancholy and cheerfulness respectively

[Amsterdam] : [publisher not identified], [1721]

1 print : etching, with engraving ; platemark of inner scene 12 x 8.3 cm ; platemark of border 30 x 18.6 cm

Vasten avonds vreugde krans en tooneel stuk. Literal translation of lettering: "Shrove Tuesday's wreath of joy and drama". Within the border, Dutch verses and other engraved inscriptions. The verses to the left of the central scene refer to Law being in Venice for the Carnival ("Law te Venetien maakt Vasten Avonds grillen / Doende in triakel, spigels en finantie brillen"; Law celebrates the Carnival in Venice, Dealing in theriac, mirrors and rose-tinted spectacles), which dates this state of the print to 1721

'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. 3597 (62)

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. 2, London 1978, no. 1684

Arthur H. Cole, The great mirror of folly (Het groote tafereel der dwaasheid). An economic-bibliographical study, Boston 1949, no. 62

Wellcome Collection 816084i