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Professions and trades

Barto Valle's Italian Warehouse, Haymarket, Thomas Rowlandson, 1805-1810, Pen and watercolour over pencil
Barto Valle's Italian Warehouse, Haymarket, Thomas Rowlandson, 1805-1810, Pen and watercolour over pencil


London's professions and trades were just as subject to satire as royalty, politicians and the infamous. Clerics, lawyers and doctors were the most pilloried of London's professions, with barbers and shop keepers, the most mocked of tradesmen.

Skaters on the Serpentine, Thomas Rowlandson, 1786, Pen and watercolour    The Pretty Bar Maid, John Collet, 1770, Mezzotint    The Lawyers Coat of Arms, published by W. Dicey, c.1733, Etching

In the main image, Thomas Rowlandson has depicted the interior of Barto Valle's shop in London. Barto Valle established his business at 21 Haymarket in 1761.

Here three customers sample wine aided by a shop assistant. Set against the rich backdrop of Valle's rich assortment of food, it is a satire on the overindulgence of the senses, the figures representing the senses of smell, taste and sight.

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