1-150-855 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

The Irrepressible Nigger!, 1881. John Bull, the representative of the British people, is being asked by King Coffee for the return of his state umbrella. This relates to the 1874 Ashanti Campaign led by Sir Garnet Wolseley after threats had been made to British interests on the Gold Coast. The Ashanti capital fell in February 1874, and peace was made through the signing of the Treaty of Fommarah. This laid down terms for the payment of a war indemnity. The King's state umbrella had later been presented to Queen Victoria at Windsor. From Punch, or the London Charivari, February 19, 1881.