The Union Bath

This chromolithograph by Tom Merry ridicules the Liberal Unionists' opposition to Irish Home Rule through the metaphor of a public bathhouse. Nine figures—politicians and their supporters—occupy "The Union Bath," where one man scrubs while others lounge or gesture. The caption "What! Cry to be Washed!" mocks their contradictory positions on political union and reform.

Merry's print descends from the 18th-century tradition of Gillray and Rowlandson: satirical lithographs combining caricatured physiognomies, symbolic settings, and verbal wit to skewer public figures. Here, the bathing scene conflates bodily exposure with political exposure. The chromolithographic process allowed bright colors that made such prints accessible and eye-catching in newspapers and shop windows—direct ancestors of modern political cartooning and comic strip art.