The Rhodes Colossus: striding from Cape Town to Cairo (Punch, 10 December 1892)
Full-page Punch cartoon: Cecil Rhodes in khaki, one boot at the Cape and one far to the north on a map of Africa, stretches telegraph wire between his hands and holds his hat aloft. The caption reads 'The Rhodes Colossus, striding from Cape Town to Cairo'. The tell: the figure is cast as the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, borrowing the monument's scale and renown for a living businessman's plan (transfer).
- Date
- December 10, 1892
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Punch, or the London Charivari; drawing by Edward Linley Sambourne
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- British Empire
- Leader
- Victoria
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Punch, via Cornell University Library PJ Mode Collection and Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain: published 1892 (before 1931); Sambourne d. 1910; Commons PD-old-100
Edward Linley Sambourne, Punch, 10 December 1892; Cornell University Library PJ Mode Collection via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
266 PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. [December 10, 1892.] THE RHODES COLOSSUS STRIDING FROM CAPE TOWN TO CAIRO. [signature:] Linley Sambourne [faint text from the reverse of the page shows through behind the drawing; not transcribed]
