The House of Commons in Session, London, 1804

This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, lettered "The House of Commons." The chamber is shown in session. A member stands in the center of the floor with his arm raised, speaking, while others listen from the tiers of benches on either side. At the far end the Speaker sits in his canopied chair beneath the royal arms, with the clerks at the table before him. A gallery supported on slender columns runs along the left wall, a large chandelier hangs in the middle of the room, and three tall arched windows light the end wall.

The title is engraved in script below the image. The artist's credit "E: Pugh Del:" is at lower left and the engraver's credit "J. Fittler. Sc:" at lower right. Beneath the title is the imprint "Published Augt 11-1804 by Richard Phillips, 71 St Paul's Church Yard."

The plate comes from Modern London; Being the History and Present State of the British Metropolis, printed for Richard Phillips, No. 71, St. Paul's Church-Yard, by C. Mercier and Co., Northumberland-court, Strand, in 1804, and "illustrated with numerous copper plates." Many of its topographical views were drawn by Edward Pugh, a Welsh painter working in London, and engraved on copper by several London engravers, each of whom signed his own plate. Until the fire of 1834 the Commons met in the former St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster, the room shown here.

A natural choice for a study, a political office or a collection of Westminster views.

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