A group of twelve man and women of various ages and walks of life — tradesmen, a clergy, a spinster, a military officer, a gentleman in shackles, a servant, a frail, sickly man, etc. — stand full length facing the viewer. Above their heads are brief expressions of their ‘wants’: “I want a job”; “I want more customers”; “I want a husband”; “I want for death”, etc. Only an obese gentleman on the right is content: “I want for nothing”; next to him, the military officer with a monocle says, “I don’t know what I want.”

• Creator: Grant, C. J. (Charles Jameson), active 1830-1852, artist.
• Title: A picture of wants [drawing].
• Created: [England], [between 1830 and 1852?]

Catalog Record & Digital Collection

Drawings G761 no. 9 Box123

Acquired November 2013