Slippers (Somerset House)

Image of a Turkish slipper seller in traditional costume, with Somerset House in the background. Published as part of a series of thirty-one prints after drawings by William Marshall Craig and engraved by Edward Edwards. See Summary at record 35.96.
This print is the portrait of a Turkish crier who used to sell Morocco Slippers in the Strand, Cheapside and Cornhill around the building of the Royal Exchange, during the hours of exchange. Other, more persuasive sellers, particularly Jews, also frequented the area of the Royal Exchange. Slippers were priced at one shilling and sixpence and two shillings per pair (Itinerant Traders of London. Description of the Plates, representing the itinerant traders of London in their ordinary costume, with Notices of the remarkable places given in the background. London, 1804). The choice of Somerset House for background may be connected with the fact that this seller's area included the Strand.