Bellows To Mend thumbnail 1
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Bellows To Mend

Watercolour
1804 (Made)
Artist/Maker
Craig (Artist)
Place of origin
London (Made)

Watercolour showing a man carrying a pair of bellows under his arm and a stick in his hand. He is wearing a ruck-sack. He is passing a cart of hay parked in a market place.


Object details

Category
Watercolours
Object type
Watercolour
TitleBellows To Mend (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Water-colour, pen and ink on paper
Watercolour
Pen and Ink
Paper
Painting
Brief description
Watercolour by William Marshall Craig showing a man offering bellow-mending services at Smithfield Market, London, 1804. Reproduced as an aquatint in Richard Phillips' 'Modern London' of 1804.
Physical description
Watercolour showing a man carrying a pair of bellows under his arm and a stick in his hand. He is wearing a ruck-sack. He is passing a cart of hay parked in a market place.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14.8cm
  • Width: 10.3cm
The painted image does not fill the whole page. There is a margin around the image of about 2-3cm.
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • W.M.CRAI 804 (Signature; date; Margin: below centre; Handwriting; Pen and ink)
  • Bellows to mend. (picture title; Margin: above centre; Handwriting; Pen and ink)
  • Smithfield (Textual information; Margin: bottom right; Handwriting; Pen and ink)
Object history
Purchased along with 8040.1-6 and 8040.8-10 from W. Headlam, November 10 1874. The purchase price below is for the group.
Production
An aquatint after this watercolour bears a publication date of August 25 1804.

Attribution note: Intended to be engraved as a book illustration
Subjects depicted
Bellows
Haywains
Knapsacks
Hiring
Markets
Working Class
Places depicted
London
Smithfield
Association
Phillips, Richard (Sir)
Bibliographic references
  • Celina Fox, 'Londoners', Thames & Hudson, 1987, pp.124, 144, 146, 163-4. This watercolour is reproduced on p.164.
  • Richard Phillips, 'Modern London', 1804/5
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
8040:7

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Record createdOctober 16, 2000
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O48854/bellows-to-mend-watercolour-craig/
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