City Dust Cart

This etching by Grace Golden shows Corporation of London dustmen at work in the city.

While one dustman tips the contents of a dustbin into the stationary dustcart, his partner holds the horse steady. A couple of men can be seen searching through a bin on the pavement. All around this central group, Londoners go about their daily business, including a window cleaner who can be seen in the distance on the far left.

Local councils were required to remove and dispose of waste from 1875. The first motorised dustcart was introduced in 1922, so this print records a sight that was rapidly disappearing from London's streets.

The author and artist Grace Golden was born in London and depicted the city in a number of her works. She studied at the Royal College of Art and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1936 and 1940.