Thomas Rowlandson, (London 1756-1827)

The Post House

The Post House
pen, brown ink and watercolour on paper
18.1 x 26.5cm (7 1/8 x 10 7/16in).

Provenance
Sale, Christie's, London, 17 November 1987, lot 137, where purchased by the present owner

This drawing probably dates from the 1790s; it was in this decade and the preceding one that Rowlandson produced his most remarkable work, the confidence of his pen lines showing what an assured and skilful draughtsman he was. In this instance his eye for social commentary falls on a scene outside a Post House where the innkeeper is cajoling a horse of dubious quality in the direction of a gentleman in need of transport. To the amusement of the bystanders the animal and the gentleman appear to be sizing each other up with equal disquiet. While the man in the tricorn points at the uncertain, bony legs of the nag, his own stance is almost a mirror image of it. Their shared shortcomings are emphasised even further by the upright stance of the young soldier standing on the right.