Accession number
PML 146857.155
Creator
Sayers, James, 1748-1823.
Published
[London] : Publd by Rd Spence, 9th March 1808.
Credit line
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Notes
Item no. 155 of a collection of prints by James Sayers (PML 146857); formerly part of an album of mounted prints, now disbound.
Description
1 print : etching ; image: 250 x 198 mm; plate mark: 253 x 203 mm; sheet: 288 x 247 mm
Provenance
From the library of Gordon N. Ray.
Summary
Print shows a London street-lamp in the form of an obelisk bisecting the design. The title is on both faces of the rectangular base. From the left of the obelisk projects a clear gas-lamp, from the right a murky oil-lamp emitting dense smoke. Round the former are butterflies, by the latter is a bat. Between them, on the apex of the obelisk, is a tilted (terrestrial) globe, the lower pole facing the oil-lamp, and dimmed with smoke. On each side of the obelisk is an interior. Under the gas-lamp (left) a young woman holds out a cloth to dry at a clear (coke) fire. On the chimney-piece is a large vase of flowers, erect and flourishing, and a branch-candlestick with three lighted candles. On the right an old woman holds a gridiron over an open (coal) fire, surrounded by clouds of smoke. On the partly obscured chimney-piece is a vase of wilting flowers and a candle lantern. Cf. George.
Classification
Catalog link
Department