William BARNARD after William Redmore Bigg

The Plundering Vagrants or Gipsies Detected
The Peasants Integrity or The Lamb Restored

A scarce pair of colour printed mezzotint engravings by William Barnard after the paintings of his contemporary, William Bigg, published in London in 1802.

In the first plate a group of gypsy children have been caught stealing chickens from a field and are being reprimanded by the angry farmer who threatens them with a stick. The second plate tells a very different story. The gypsy children make amends by returning a stray lamb to its rightful owner.

William Barnard (1774-1849) was one of the many engravers working in mezzotint in London from the end of the eighteenth century. These prints are of an exceptionally high quality and are distinctive for their clarity of engraving, richness of colour and appealing subject matter. They are also presented in period frames and glass.

£5,500
Framed