Description
A pencil, pen and watercolour drawing of the Serpentine river in Hyde Park during the encampment set up during the Gordon Riots in 1780. A large mess tent at centre back, with soldiers, camp followers and dogs by the tree-lined water. A girl with a wheelbarrow on the left, an officer on a folding chair at far right. Inscribed in pencil on the mount, 'Hyde Park during the Encampment 1780 looking towards Kensington', the last three words possibly in another hand, and in another hand known as the 'Colnaghi' hand, 'By Sandby'. The initials T. S., disernible on the board at the entrance to the mess-tent may indicate the cooperation in the colouring of Paul Sandby's son, Paul Thomas. The footman and a boy galloping also appear in an aquatint of the Encampment in Hyde Park and in a drawing in the British Museum (L. B. 138).
In early June 1780, initially peaceful protests against the concessions of the first Catholic Relief Act of 1778 turned to riots in the streets of London and Westminster. In response to the violence, encampments were set up in St. James's Park, Hyde Park and the gardens of Montagu House, and remained in place for several months. The camps became places of fashionable spectacle and entertainment. By this date Sandby lived in St. George's Row opposite Hyde Park and was well placed to observe the activity there. He submitted several views of the camps to the Royal Academy in 1781.
Image Licence
All Rights Reserved
Image Credit
Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017
Location
Hyde Park, London, England
Country
England
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
People & Society