Engelse soep 1920 - 1930

Patricq Kroon made this drawing entitled ‘Engelse Soep’ or ‘English Soup’ with pen and ink on paper, but its date is unknown. Here, Kroon uses food as a metaphor to comment on British imperialism. Kroon was a Dutch artist, so the picture likely reflects a Northern European perspective on Britain’s colonial ambitions in the early 20th century. Visually, the image creates meaning through caricature. We see caricatures of presumably British figures surrounding a giant soup tureen, which is labelled “Dominion Status Britsch-Indie” or British India. So the artist seems to be suggesting that the British are cooking up or brewing something with India. The ingredients of this soup are not explicitly mentioned, but the title of the drawing implies that the recipe or ingredients are ‘English’. As historians, we can examine visual culture such as cartoons and use primary sources such as newspapers and political pamphlets to understand how contemporary society viewed the British Empire. By looking at the institutional and social context, we may better understand the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized.