print;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1876,1014.14
- Title
- Object: Miseries of London.
- Description
-
Below the title: 'Entering upon any of the Bridges of London, or any of the passages leading to the Thames, being assailed by a groupe of watermen, holding up their hands and bawling out Oars Sculls, Sculls, Oars Oars.' A fat woman laden with basket, bottles, bundle, &c. descends steps to the waterside, blown by the wind and beset by five bawling watermen, who point towards their boats. Behind (right), other men hail an approaching passenger. The bows of two Thames wherries are on the left; in one a young waterman stands punting his boat. The watermen wear short full-skirted coats with knee-breeches and have large oval badges on the arm. Part of an old timber building forms a background to the group on the stairs. It has a large placard: 'Wapping Old Stairs'. From a projecting upper floor a man and girl look down, amused, the man smoking a long pipe. In the foreground (right) a chubby fisherman's boy sleeps in a dinghy on a pile of nets. There is a background of ships at anchor, a riverside church flying a flag, and a timber building with a large beam projecting over the water from which hangs a barrel.
14 July 1812.
Hand-coloured etching.
- Production date
- 1812
- Dimensions
-
Height: 330 millimetres
-
Width: 248 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Description and comment from M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', IX, 1949)
The Thames passenger-boats or wherries were a monopoly of the Watermen's Company and were in two categories, having either one sculler or two oarsmen. For such 'Miseries' cf. No. 10825, &c.
Grego, 'Rowlandson', ii. 231 (outline copy, p. 232).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1876
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1876,1014.14
