The Sleep – Walker

James Gillray

The Sleep – Walker

London, H Humphrey, Nov. 1^st 1795

Etching

Original hand colouring

345 x 245 mm

Slight overall browning

£580

Pitt, fast asleep, wearing only nightcap and night-shirt, walks down a staircase holding up a lighted candle in his right hand. On his right only are banisters, on his left the steps abut on a gulf indicated by the top of an arch supporting the stair; he is about to descend the first step, perilously near the left edge. Behind him, in a wall of heavy masonry, is an open door surmounted by a crown. A tall gothic window pierces the wall of the building.