Anon
The Sinking Fund
London, Robert Wilkinson, 9th. April 1779
(A reissue circa 1820)
Etching
Original hand colouring
240 x 300 mm
£150.
The interior of a pawnbroker’s shop. Behind a counter (l.) an old man wearing a cap and spectacles is bargaining with a customer over a watch. On the wall above his head is inscribed "Money lent by Judas Gripe". The customer, a well-dressed man, leans on the counter. Next him is a young woman holding a garment which she intends to pawn. Behind her a man standing on tip-toe reaches over her head to offer the pawnbroker a wig. An elderly and ragged woman is counting the coins she has received. A man (r.) in profile to the right. has just taken the buckles off his shoes, his left. foot raised on a stool. Behind the figures and against the wall at r. angles to the counter is a large cupboard, the upper part fronted with panes of glass; behind this are many pawned articles including a number of watches, books, a violin, a sword, jugs, bowls, a barber’s bowl, a hat. Inside the counter, which is hollow, are rolls of material B M 5535
