“Two pretty women leave a shop (left) to enter a coach whose back is towards the spectator. The foremost (? Duchess of Rutland), raising her petticoats high, puts a foot on the step. She is followed by (?) Lady Jersey, who crosses a step laid across a barred area or cellar, also raising her petticoats. A little girl (left) stands in the doorway. The legs of the ladies are eagerly inspected by male loungers. One man crouches at the back of the coach to peep through a quizzing-glass. The roadway on the right of the coach is crowded. Men with telescopes are indicated in the windows of the houses (right). Other spectators stand in the cellar or area looking upwards through the bars. The cover of a coal-hole in the pavement is pushed aside to show a profile. …”–British Museum online catalogue.
- Printmaker: Cruikshank, Isaac, 1764-1811, printmaker.
- Title: Peepers in Bond Street, or, The cause of the lounge!! [graphic] / I.C.
- Publication: London : Pub. April 17st [sic], 1793, by S.W. Fores, No. 3 Piccadilly …, [17 April 1793]
793.04.17.01+
Acquired December 2023
“Two elderly men, in old-fashioned dress, play chess, seated at a small table, lit by two guttering candles. One moves, the other watches with intense concern. Each has a deeply interested spectator leaning on the back of his chair. All four are caricatured. A small dog lies on the ground. A large fire burns in the grate (right). Over the chimney-piece is the lower part of a whole length portrait. On the wall behind the players are three pictures: one of a man playing ninepins outside a rustic inn, with a donkey looking over a paling, is flanked by a picture of a horse and by a landscape.”–British Museum online catalogue.
