Sweep Boy

A young chimney sweep, sooty from hours spent cleaning chimneys, is depicted on the snow-covered doorstep of the artist's house. He has left his sooty fingerprints by the door behind him and carries the blackened tools of his trade.

Although a law was passed in 1788 regulating the employment of chimney sweeps, children continued to enter into the occupation well into the 19th century. Due to their small size, they could easily clamber up the chimneys but their cramped working conditions led to accidents, illness and even death. The plight of young chimney sweeps was addressed by the novelist Charles Dickens in 'Oliver Twist', published in 1838.

A self-taught artist, Henry George Hine started his career as a professional wood-engraver before becoming a comic artist and landscape painter. He produced sketches for Punch magazine during the early 1840s and continued to paint pictures of the Sussex countryside where he grew up. In 1863 Hine became an associate of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours and served as vice-president from 1884-1895.