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Bartholomew Fair

Etcher Thomas Rowlandson British
After John Nixon British
1807
Not on view
Rowlandson's leading cataloguer Joseph Grego, wrote of this print that, "judging from the caricature, the abolition of fairs in the City must have been a boon to public order and morality. The noise, disorder, and misrule of the festivity are taking place outside the hospital. Boat-swings are revolving, a few...getting into difficulties...there are wandering sellers of sweets, pastry, and such things,...booths for refreshments...drinking stalls where tipplers are taking too much...a reveller who, finding himself overcome with liquor, has laid down in the gutter...There are booths for dancing...and parties of jolly sailors arriving outside coaches....in more than one spot, rings are formed for fair fighting, and both men and women are exhibiting their prowess in the boxing line."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bartholomew Fair
  • Etcher: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Artist: After John Nixon (British, London bap. 1755–1818 Ryde, Isle of Wight)
  • Date: 1807
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 9 1/8 × 12 15/16 in. (23.2 × 32.8 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.888-14
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Migrants, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
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Going to Ivy Bridge
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The Sailor's Return from Active Service, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
The Sailor's Return from Active Service
Thomas Rowlandson
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Departure of Blanchard and Jeffries' Balloon from Dover, January 7, 1785, Thomas Rowlandson British, Hand-colored etching
Departure of Blanchard and Jeffries' Balloon from Dover, January 7, 1785
Multiple artists/makers
January 1794
Ships and Sailors, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
Ships and Sailors
Thomas Rowlandson
late 18th–early 19th century

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