St. Martin's Church Lane, George Scharf, 1828
Inquiring reader: I was visually arrested by this image of St. Martin’s Church Lane, which was painted by the German artist, George Johann Scharf (1788-1860), who lived on this street during the prime of his career. The image, painted in 1828, is a snapshot of London during George IV’s reign as king and captures the metropolis as I imagine it in those days. Born in Bavaria, George Scharf studied painting and lithography under Professor Hauber in Munich. The illustrator began traveling throughout Europe in 1810 and was caught up in the siege of Antwerp in 1814. He escaped and enlisted in the English army, where he drew maps and sketches of fortifications and troop movements. After Waterloo, Scharf moved to Paris, and in 1816 he emigrated to England and became a successful illustrator of ordinary life in England.
Old Covent Garden Market, 1825, George Scharf
George Scharf has been described as the pictorial equivalent of the literary chronicler of early Victorian London, Charles Dickens. Scharf studied in Munich and became an expert in lithographic printing and miniature portrait painting. He settled in London in 1816, at a time when the capital was undergoing a dramatic expansion, and spent the rest of his life in the city. The rapidly changing face of early Victorian London is depicted in this exhibition through some 60 works. Scharf’s vivid, detailed drawings capture every aspect of ordinary life, showing people going about their daily business in fine detail – from the boots on their feet to the buttons on their coats and the hats on their heads – recorded with an immediacy that is almost photographic.
Sketches of people in snow, Scharf, 1820-30, British Museum
Not only do the pictures offer an interesting insight into London’s inhabitants, Scharf also precisely recreates the architectural landscape of the city. His work combines a sensitive observation of the individuals in the pictures with architectural accuracy to give a full picture of the city and its people as he saw it. In the 1820s and 1830s London experienced a huge growth in what would now be described as ‘consumer culture’ and Scharf’s pictures depict the advertising hoardings and shop signs that started to appear all around the city. They also reflect how society changed, with the introduction of gas lighting, which made the streets safer, and meant that London could start to develop a nightlife, leading to the opening of the first music halls. – Private View Held By Richard Andrews, ExhibitionsNet.com
Cow Keeper's Shop, George Scharf, London 1825
Once Scharf arrived in London, he married his landlady’s sister. London was then a thriving centre for lithography – the new printing process, and Scharf was to enjoy success with mostly topographical views and genre scenes that could be transformed into prints.* These three scenes show how dairies operated in London. Cows were milked on the premises. In the Cow Keeper’s Shop, a customer is making a purchase while the man on the right pours milk into large tin pails.
Milkmaids, George Scharf
The milk was collected twice daily and taken out into the city streets by girls, usually Welsh or Irish, who carried two heavy pails on a yoke. Their routes varied, but were usually a few miles long. The girls called out through the streets and squares for customers to purchase the fresh milk. Their cries included, “Milk below, Maids!” and “Buy any milk?” In the scene below, a wealthier class of customer makes a purchase in Westminster Dairy. City conditions for cows were not optimal, cooped up inside as they were. A few lucky beasts would spend their day grazing in Green Park, where maids sold milk by the cup.
The Quadrant, Regent St., George Scharf
During this era, the city of London was transformed into a modern metropolis. Massive renovations included gas lights, new canals, sewers, and water mains, creating a boon for construction. George Scharf captured these scenes of upheaval time and again, focusing on the laborer more than the surrounding buildings.
Laying a water-main in Tottenham Court Road, George Scharf, 1834
Laying the foundations of the Lycian Room, British Museum, George Scharf, 1845
Placard carriers were a common sight in early 19th century London. People were hired to carry signs or wear sandwich boards and circulate in targeted areas.
Carrying Election Advertisements, George Scharf, Scenes of London
Shooter’s Hill, which offers splendid views, is the tallest point south of London. Situated along the Dover Road, it was notoriously dangerous at night, attracting highwaymen and robbers. In the 18th century a hotel was built for wealthy travelers on this spot, but Shooter’s Hill was also well known for a nearby gibbet and gallows. Samuel Pepys wrote in 1661: “I rode under a man that hangs at Shooters Hill and a filthy sight it was to see how the flesh is shrunk from his bones”. (British Library, Online Gallery)
Shooter's Hill, George Scharf, 1826
Tens of thousands of sculptures, paintings, animals, and scientific artifacts arrived from abroad during this era of exploration, war, and colonization, and were displayed in newly built museums and galleries.
The Gallery of New Society of Painters, George Scharff, The Victoria & Albert Museum
Visitors at Montagu House, British Museum, George Scharf
Like today, people purchased tickets to attend art exhibitions. Painters jockeyed for prime positions for their paintings,which were hung one on top of the other. The best wall space was reserved for the better known artists or the larger, more important works.
Glass and wood cases contained artifacts brought back by explorers or filled with collections from private individuals. Exotic animals were stuffed and displayed in halls big enough to contain them. The plundering of important artifacts and antiquities from other cultures, such as the Elgin Marbles, was controversial even then and remains controversial to this day. While some bemoaned the pillage, others enthusiastically came to see the exhibited items.
Touring, George Scharf
George Scharf also created illustrations for a number of London’s scientific institutions, such as the Zoological and Geological Societies and the Royal College of Surgeons. This work brought him into contact with leading scientists, including Robert Owen and Charles Darwin.*
Forensic Trial, George Scharf, Feb 1844, London
A row with Darwin over the pricing of drawings of South American fossil bones – Darwin thought he was being ripped off – curtailed this lucrative source of income and marked a decline in Schaff’s fortunes.*
Skull of toxodon platensis, 1832-1836, George Scharf
The artist’s last years were rather abject: living apart from his family, he was reduced to trying to sell his London drawings to the City Corporation, who turned him down. He even solicited minor German royalty for a pension in exchange for all of his work, but was again rebuffed. Following his death in 1860, his wife, Elizabeth, sold over a thousand drawings and watercolours to the British Museum. *Joe Staines, The Guardian
More about the topic:
- *Art Review, George Scharf’s London
- George Scharf, British Museum
- British Library, George Scharf Painting
- George Scharf
- V&A Prints
- London Events: Several images of Scharf’s paintings
- Science and Society Picture Libary
- George Scharf, Westminster Elections, Covent Garden, Sotheby’s
- Entry, The Dictionary of National Biography, 1909
Sir George Scharf, self portrait, watercolor, 1872
A short word about Sir George Scharf, George Scharf’s son (1820-1895). Sir George was a British art critic who studied in the schools of the Royal Academy. He illustrated books related to art and antiquity, largely taught and lectured, and helped to design the Greek, Roman, and Pompeiian courts at the Cyrstal palace. Sir George Scharf was also appointed director to the National Portrait Gallery. (1911 Encyclopedia, Sir George Scharf)
Florence Nightingale, Sir George Scharf, 1847
Jane Austen's World 
This was truly delightful! Wow, so much beautiful eye candy to see and I lurved the history; amazing how things went south and then in the end, his work is in a museum. This is a great post, love it, love it!
A fascinating post! I loved Scharf’s style and that first painting especially. I never imagined dairies in the city, and cows kept indoors. My, now the place must have smelled! Thanks for researching all this information to share with us.
This was an interesting read. I’m always learning something from here. Thank you!
That was fascinating, thank you. I feel that his pictures are, as you said, like snapshots; what a treasure for us today! And how sad that his value was not appreciated in his own time…
Thanks again!
The St. Martin’s Lane print is marvelous – wonderful angles and a treat for someone who spent many hours in London bookstores.
To note the Elgin Marbles as controversial without context does a disservice to your post on history, and the appreciation conveyed for the artist. The Elgin Marbles may be seen here:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/ancient_greece_and_rome/room_18_greece_parthenon_scu.aspx
This is a fair presentation regarding the controversy over ownership while noting what has been best to date:
http://www.examiner.com/x-11199-Archeological-Travel-Examiner~y2009m8d7-The-Elgin-Marbles-Where-do-they-belong
But what I find most interesting about the Greeks is how it took so long, 200 years, for them to find any interest in contesting ownership, and then doing so in the name of racism.
Thank you for the links, FeFe. I’ve threaded comments about the Elgin Marbles through previous posts, presenting either side of the argument, depending on my mood when I write the post. Point well taken, though. I should treat each post as a separate entity, and not assume that readers have been following them in order.
Speaking of “imperial economic and cultural subjugations,” or racists, or race-baiting guilt, English culture as written by Jane Austen is said to be the “strategic and cultural projection of British power” as “her novels certainly became central to the exportation of British pedagogical and popular cultural authority from the mid-nineteenth century” throughout the world. While Emma, published Dec. 1815, purports to “summon up a privileged, bucolic ideal of a modern British society removed from uglier scenes of resource extraction, industrialization, urbanization, and expanding overseas commercial and racial exploitation.”
http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol28no2/windsor-liscombe.htm
I don’t cotton to the notion myself when one reflects there were places in Africa that British colonization introduced the wheel to. True. And while scholars have the time for self reflection within a novel, I am left without remedy to understand just what 40 years of independence from the Queen and self rule has brought Africa or Asia. But then that must be the romantic in me looking for some redeeming quality outside of the economic studies detailing how England did not in the end profit from any jewel in Her Majesty’s crown. Indeed, it was the opposite, in that these distant to Western civilization cultures, gained much more in infrastructure, medicine, and labor skills and education. In other words, they didn’t have to reinvent the wheel!
What was gained were the Elgin Marbles on display in 1816. I do not know if Jane Austen saw them or even mentioned them in correspondence. However, they were quite the talk of the nation. I don’t know if the love of Roman and Greek architecture, scientific study, and influenced fashion plates were out of their arrival or spurred on among other like cultural instances. An interesting thought requiring a bit more internet surfing that might make a nice post if you are so inclined.
Were they mentioned in a Heyer novel? Have you by any chance read the following:
http://www.janeaustenbooks.net/catalog/historyculture.html
Nagel, Susan. Mistress of the Elgin Marbles: A Biography of Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin. “The remarkable Mary Nisbet was the Countess of Elgin in Romantic-era Scotland and the wife of the seventh Earl of Elgin. When Mary accompanied her husband to diplomatic duty in Turkey, she changed history. She helped bring the smallpox vaccine to the Middle East, struck a seemingly impossible deal with Napolean, and arranged the removal of famous marbles from the Parthenon…all overshadowed by her scandalous divorce.”
The Elgin Marbles impact was strongly felt by celebrated poet John Keats, “On Seeing The Elgin Marbles,” first published March 9, 1817. I can’t say I know the state of his health but he did not die until 1795-1821. Even so, his viewing of the Elgin Marbles renders his poem about mortality. Sculptures in decay. Frailty of man. Jane Austen died at 4:30 am on July 18, 1817 at the age of 41.
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/3401.html
So, riddle me this, my zombies and vampires in ball gowns and Hessians. As famous as the Elgin Marbles have been in England for over 200 years, what would have changed in Regency England (1811-1820), if anything, had the marbles never arrived? If English identity is so wrapped up in the past strength of conquest, by surrendering the marbles, does that not prove the point Jane Austen was a racist? Or can there be an acknowledgment of history and the understanding that though the British came, they did not seek to erase different cultures or their history, but spurred archeology and preservation the world over. (How many museums were started during the Regency?) While the form of government and class structure imposed was not to everyone’s liking, must we deny any good or decency from the British raising millions from abject poverty? Have the British no claim to democracy’s heritage when they were the first nation to outlaw slavery in 1772, and in the British Empire in 1807 and patrol for enforcement off the African coast?
“What is uniquely Western is not slavery but the movement to abolish slavery.” If I raise my head long enough from having my nose buried in a book, I can see slavery still practiced in the world today through Africa, Asia, and muslim nations. I am most certain Jane would not approve while drawing her strength from English power, Elgin Marbles included.
FeFe, your comment is a post in itself! To quickly answer one of your questions, Georgette Heyer, while she frequently mentioned trips to museums and newfangled scientific inventions in her romance novels, did not mention the Elgin Marbles, which is interesting. I believe that at the time the Marbles arrived in London, there was a heated debate among the intellegensia of the period whether these sculptures had been illegally wrested from their homeland or if they had been saved from destruction and found their deserving place of rest.
For generations my family lived in a Dutch colony, Batavia, now Jakarta, and lived like kings and queens, even though they would have been poor in Holland. My mother is still convinced that colonization brought order and prosperity to Indonesia. I, on the other hand, am conflicted about my family’s and the Dutch exploitation of this magnificent land. In the 1990’s I visited what remained of Old Batavia. When I saw how 90% of the people still lived (like slaves, exploited, undernourished, overworked, stunted in growth, etc.) I could barely keep from crying and held my head in shame.
Dear All,
I just read: “Born in Bavaria, George Scharf studied painting and lithography under Professor Hauber in Munich. The illustrator began traveling throughout Europe in 1810 and was caught up in the siege of Antwerp in 1814. He escaped and enlisted in the English army, where he drew maps and sketches of fortifications and troop movements. ”
Where can I find George Scharf’s 1814-15 drawings?
regards,
Ronald Pawly
[…] say a picture is worth a thousand words, and how true it is in this instance. George Scharf the elder, a popular genre painter of the early 19th century, was also a prolific drawer of ordinary scenes in his adopted city of London. One can study his […]