Lady in Sedan Chair

Depictions of the street were unusual around the date of this drawing, 1781-1790.Dighton drew a scene which was fascinating as much for the detail of street life as for the caricaturised figures. In the drawing two disreputable-looking liveried chairmen are shown carrying a sedan chair across an empty street. In the chair sits an elderly woman holding a small dog. All the figures have heavily accentuated features with the woman in particular drawn with a very sharp chin, in the same profile pose. The street is deserted apart from a female boot black, who is cleaning a pile of boots and shoes on the right of the drawing, sitting beneath a selection of torn posters.

Dighton was an expert social satirist and from 1800 produced an invaluable record of some of the leading figures in British society. He was a prolific artist who became notorious for stealing many prints from the British Museum.