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Man having his shoes polished [Bray album]

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Date

Oct 1774

Description

No. 12 of 74. Dated and signed 'Oct 74 AVprGB' (to the life by Gabriel Bray) this is another telling social vignette of town life, probably seen in London while Bray was on the way to join the 'Pallas' at Portsmouth, though it may also have been done there. However, the date and the fashionable civilian dress of the gentleman using the services of the boot-boy suggest the former.This is one of 73 drawings by Bray (plus one signed 'NF 1782') preserved in a 19th-century album. They have now been separately remounted. Bray (1750-1823), was second lieutenant of the 44-gun ‘Pallas’ under Captain the Hon. William Cornwallis (1744-1819) – later a well-known admiral - on two voyages (1774-77) to report on British interests in West Africa, including the slave trade. The dated drawings refer only to the first of these, from December 1774 to September 1775, though a few may be from the second. Others comprise country views, some of Deal, Kent (where Bray may have come from), and others of social-history interest.

Image Licence

CC BY-NC-ND

Image Credit

Location

London, England

Country

England

Medium

Watercolour