Cartoon with smoker and snuff taker

November 2003

In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the cartoon experienced great popularity, especially in England and France. This dry needle etching in standing format is French in origin and is typical in its kind. The coloured print shows two happy tobacco consumers in their typical attitudes. The man on the left takes some snuff powder from his snuff box with the exclamation: "what a great snuff". The person on the right is smoking from a long, oversized clay pipe with the sigh "ah, how delicious I smoke again". The two Nicotinists refer to a political problem that played a key role. Tobacco from the French colonies of Martinique and in particular San-Domingo was so heavily taxed that tobacco was regularly mingled with inferior leaf work. The taste of the tobacco deteriorated, while the price actually increased. Over time, Dutch merchant ships brought relief by bringing in excellent tobacco via Amsterdam. At the harbor head of Rochefort, on the left in the foreground, the Dutch flag goes out to welcome the Amsterdam fleet in the distance. For the French smoker this was, as the caption reads: "An unexpected and welcome visit" or literally "La visite inattendue".

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 17.253

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