The Crossing Sweeper, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 64
Sharpe's engraving reproduces a small painting, from 1858 (Museum of London) that focuses on a familiar sight in large cities, especially London, where boys worked as crossing sweepers to assist a safe passage across busy and filthy streets. Frith painted the contemporary subject while he worked on his large masterpiece "The Derby Day" (1856–58; Tate, London). He later admitted that the street scene was a "stopgap", intended to provide a ready income during the lengthy production of the larger work. The artist wrote that, "I began to paint a small picture of a lady waiting to cross a [London] street, with a little boy crossing-sweeper besieging her in the usual fashion". The subject proved popular and the artist made at least four other versions.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Crossing Sweeper, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 64
- Engraver: Charles William Sharpe (British, Birmingham 1818–1899 Burnham, Buckinghamshire)
- Artist: After William Powell Frith (British, Aldfield, Yorkshire 1819–1909 London)
- Publisher: Virtue & Co.
- Date: March 1864
- Medium: Engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet: 11 15/16 × 9 1/4 in. (30.3 × 23.5 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Harry G. Friedman, 1961
- Object Number: 61.663.319
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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