A Frost Fair on the Thames at Temple Stairs

Although it was not unusual for the River Thames to freeze during severe winters, the frost of 1683-84 was unparalleled in the city's history. From early December 1683 until February 1684 the ice was as thick as it had ever been. Booths were set up on the frozen river where games and various entertainments took place. Coaches, sledges and sedan-chairs are shown plying on the ice while a game of ninepins is in progress in the central foreground. Citizens stroll on the ice, carefully avoiding the gaping hole in the right foreground. Among the buildings in the background are, from left to right, St. Clement Danes, Essex Buildings, Middle Temple Hall, Temple Stairs and King's Bench Walk.

Born in Rotterdam, Abraham Hondius had settled in England by 1674. Although he specialised in painting animals and birds, Hondius also depicted religious, mythological and topographical subjects, as well as interiors and hunting scenes.