1-237-160 - London Metropolitan Archives (London Picture Archive)/Heritage Images

'The Bubblers' Mirrour, or England's Folly', 1720. Showing the head and shoulders of a man, looking distressed, holding an empty money-bag. The border consists of a list of 'bubbles', with a satirical coat of arms and verses below. It is a satire on the South Sea Bubble of 1711-1720. This bubble, or hoax, centred on the South Sea Company which had been founded in order to trade with Spanish America on the assumption that the War of the Spanish Succession would end soon with a favourable treaty allowing trading. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 was not as favourable as hoped, although confidence was boosted when George I became governor of the company. However by September 1720 the market had collapsed and many investors were ruined.