The Repeal, or the Funeral of Miss Ame - Stamp 1766

This print, likely from 1766, depicts the funeral of “Miss Ame-Stamp” and centers on symbols laden with significance. We see skulls mounted on posts, emblems of death and decay, positioned ominously above a reading clergyman. Consider, if you will, how the skull has been employed across cultures, from vanitas paintings reminding us of life's transience to tribal art invoking ancestral spirits. Here, these skulls not only symbolize the death of the Stamp Act but also evoke a sense of foreboding, perhaps hinting at future turmoil. The funeral procession itself, a motif recurring in art from ancient Roman sarcophagi to Renaissance frescoes, underscores a collective mourning. Yet, this is not a scene of simple grief. It is a political statement, charged with defiance and hope. The presence of merchant ships in the background –symbols of commerce– connects this event to broader economic and cultural exchanges. The emotions stirred by these symbols reveal the deep, subconscious anxieties of a society grappling with its identity and future, reminding us that history is not a linear march but a cyclical return of primal forces.