Thomas Rowlandson.

Kicking up a Breeze or Barrow Women Basting a Beadle.

9 x 13 inches

Etching in original hand colour by Thomas Rowlandson, published in London in 1814.

''If the law supposes that… the law is a ass''. So said Mr. Bumble, arguably the most famous Beadle in English literature, appearing in Dickens's Oliver Twist. In Rowlandson's bawdy scene, set outside Bob Gibblet's poultry shop, we witness a rowdy altercation between a Beadle and two pugnacious ladies, purveyors of potatoes and the like. The Beadle has stumbled into one of the barrows and upturned the entire contents onto the street. Whether he attempts an apology or not, the ladies are having none of it and are setting upon him with little restraint. One grabs his nose and positions her fist ready for a powerful punch in the gob whilst her equally irate companion grasps his collar and prepares to thwack him over the head with her basket. Two beefy butchers and a third barrow woman look on, clearly amused and revelling in the entertainment. Beadles were employed by the church, the city wards and the livery companies for ceremonial and administrative purposes, often having to settle minor crimes and petty offences. As such, they would have been quite unpopular in certain quarters, particularly (as it seems) outside Mr. Gibblet's shop!

£360