Band Box Seller

Maker Paul Sandby (British, 1731-1809)

Collections

British Drawing Highlights

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Daten.d.

Mediumbrush and black ink and wash with red and yellow watercolor over traces of graphite on laid paper

Dimensions7 7/8 × 6 1/4 in. (20 × 15.9 cm.) sheet: 12 13/16 × 9 7/8 in. (32.5 × 25.1 cm.)

MarkingsNumbered: 4

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextThis image of a hat box seller belongs to Sandby’s London Cries, a series of figure studies that take as their subject the city’s street merchants. Cries refers to the calls the sellers made to attract customers’ attention. The series follows a long tradition of European imagery of itinerant performers and traders. While many of the figures in Sandby’s London Cries are markedly unpleasant, the Band Box Seller is a study in elegance. The figure is depicted from behind as he walks away from us, a variety of boxes dangling from a pole perched on his shoulder. Under its weight, his body curves sinuously, as if performing a dance (2022).

Object number67.18

Terms