A single-horse carriage is stopped in front of a rustic inn or roadhouse, with two caricatured Frenchmen (one a postillion wearing enormous boots) engaged in changing out the horse. An occupant of the carriage hands money out the window to a peasant woman holding an infant and accompanied by a young boy; two other shabbily dressed figures are nearby next to a tree, one of them playing a makeshift drum. In the doorway of the building stands a young woman, and to the left a man under an archway stands with arms crossed; both watch the scene unfold. In the background a postillion rides away on horseback, whip extended into the air
Alternative Title:
Changing horses on the road to Paris
Description:
Title from dealer's description., Signed by the artist in lower left., and One of five views by the artist F.G. Byron that record his visit to France in 1790; they were exhibited at the Society of Artists the following year. This drawing was exhibited under the title "Changing horses on the road to Paris" (Society of Artists, 1791, no. 39).
Subject (Geographic):
Clermont (France) and France.
Subject (Topic):
Carriages & coaches, Horses, Taverns (Inns), Postillions, French, Peasants, Country life, Ethnic stereotypes, and Drums (Musical instruments)
Title devised by curator., Horace Walpole's note beneath image: Wyke., Note on verso: "Kaye Dowland 1872.", Note on verso, in unknown hand, "No. 219.", Illegible text in image., Formerly mounted and hinged, with residual glue and paper on four corners of the recto., and For further information, consult library staff.
Title devised by cataloger., Unsigned; artist unidentified., Place and date of production from Annie Burr Lewis's note that was pasted to the back of former frame: This is a French 18th century "pin prick" picture., and Temporary local subject terms: Pin prick (pouncing) -- Women in literature and art.
