What exactly is illustrated in Sibly's Revolution of America engraving?

On page 264 I assert that Sibly's engraving shows an 'infant ...being watched by a chubby native Indian and a British officer, sword lowered and gesturing in acknowledgment of the new-born babe'. However, my reading of the figure on the left as a British officer runs counter to later interpretations in American sources, which treat the figure as representing George Washington. The engraving appears in tints in nineteenth century reproductions (although not in any edition of the full Sibly text that I have so far seen), and the figure is shown in blue. This indicates the uniform of an American officer, since British officers wore red. Dane Rudhyar is in this tradition in seeing 'George Washington receiving the horoscope of America from the Angel Gabriel' (p267). There is however no evidence in Sibly's text to suggest either Gabriel or Washington.

If any single figure should be credited in this way then it certainly must be George Washington, the colonists' heroic commander-in-chief and America's first President. This is an entirely valid way of seeing the engraving, which I fully respect. I will however give the reasons for considering the interpretation suggested in Moment as a credible possibility of representing the original intention of Sibly or the engraver.

Firstly observe that there is no definitive indication either way purely on the evidence of the engraving. The figure does not look particularly like George Washington, although of course a likeness or description of him may not have been available, or sought out even if it was available. Details of the apparel are insufficient to distinguish American from British; both wore similar uniforms, apart from the colour. The distant flags and pennants are indistinct; further, even if we assume that the engraver is working from detailed knowledge, the encampment in the background could be either British or American according to records we have of the styles of the time.

Both foreground and background appear to give an idealised sketch of what an English engraver might imagine a busy colonial seaport and its surrounding countryside to look like. This brings us naturally to an important suggestion, which is that all aspects of the picture may be idealised and emblematic, rather than figuratively literal. After all, the figure of Justice is an emblem, as is the baby; and we can be sure that the native Indian is not a particular and named individual - he stands generically for all the native people of those lands. To suggest that the military figure is George Washington is to make of him the single literal representation on a canvas of emblems.

The emblematic nature of the figures is emphasised by their gestures. Justice commands: she points with her sword to the infant United States as the babe writes the first words of its constitution. Both the officer and the native gesture directly to the infant, in each case with their left hands. Notice how marked is the gesture in the case of the native, who is distinctly pointing. In the politics of the colonial war this appears significant, since the native Indians were in the main in the service of the British Crown, and often employed in hostilities - and atrocities - against the colonists. The native's full dress of head-feathers shows he is a chief, and he offers feathers in his right hand. In this gesture he is granting authority to the federal union, and no longer to the great white chief over the seas. This leads to the interpretation that from both sides of the picture the constitutional right of the new union is now acknowledged, with the armed figure being an emblem of the British, sword lowered, forced into ceding authority to the new union.

The final piece of evidence in support of this interpretation comes from the way in which Sibly's text treats the whole issue of American Independence, from the standpoint of the history of Britain, since, as he says 'the event is so important to this country'. This is exactly paralleled in the circumstance that the horoscope in the scroll shows the heavens as they appear in London, and not in Philadelphia. Here is how Sibly opens his discussion:

Notice the emphasis on the passing of authority, and the turn of events by which British history gave independence to America. Elsewhere he interprets the Aries and Cancer Ingresses of 1776, cast for London, as showing a 'natural tendency towards the good fortune and success of the Americans; and consequently the disappointment and prejudice of the British arms and administration'. That is why we need not be surprised to read in the Sibly engraving a picture of British arms being laid down, and British authority ceded.

with thanks to Kirk Little for detailed references on this topic