Cat's and Dog's Meat, Bethlem Hospital, Cries of London, 1804

An original antique hand colored copper engraving of a London street seller, lettered "CAT'S & DOG'S MEAT!" below the image and "Bethlem Hospital." in script above it. A woman in a black hat, blue shawl, striped apron and orange skirt holds a knife in one hand and gestures with the other toward a wheelbarrow holding pieces of meat. Behind her are a domed brick building, a tall tree and a stone gateway.

The location "Bethlem Hospital." is engraved in script at the top of the plate and the cry "CAT'S & DOG'S MEAT!" in open capitals at the bottom. Below the border, the lower left corner carries the artist credit "Craig del" (meaning Craig drew it), and the center carries the imprint "Published April. 25.1804. by Richard Phillips. 71. St. Pauls Church Yard.", dated April 25, 1804. No engraver is named. Bethlem Hospital stood at Moorfields at this date. Cat's and dog's meat, cheap cooked horseflesh, was sold from barrows in the streets.

Modern London; Being the History and Present State of the British Metropolis was published in London in 1804, printed for Richard Phillips of No. 71, St. Paul's Church-Yard, by C. Mercier and Co., and "illustrated with numerous copper plates." Alongside its views of public buildings it carried a series of plates of the street traders of London, each showing a seller with his or her wares against a recognizable London setting, named in script above the image, with the trader's cry engraved below. William Marshall Craig, credited on the plate as the draftsman, was a London painter in watercolors and miniatures and a drawing master. His designs for the series record the dress, tools and goods of the people who sold in the streets of Georgian London, and they remain a valuable document of everyday life in the city at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The small format, double ruled border and fresh coloring suit a single frame or a group of street cries hung together.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.