Bow Street Office

Various artists/makers

Not on view

Londoners crowd a courtroom in Bow Street, waiting to appear before a Westminster magistrate who sits on a podium in the left background. This court had been established in the 1740s to address minor crimes such as drunkenness, fighting and prostitution, and relieve pressure on higher courts such as the Old Bailey. By focussing on the waiting crowd, instead of those who adminstration of justice, the print conveys the capital's popular energy.

Bow Street Office, Designed and etched by Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London), Hand-colored etching and aquatint

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