On September 23rd, 1758, an aspiring architect named Robert Mylne (1733 – 1811) wrote to his younger brother William (1734 – 1790) with astonishing news. At twenty-four years old, Robert had just become the first Briton awarded top prize in the Concorso Clementino, a famous architecture competition held every three years in Rome.[1] This drawing...

The Reverend William Bradford traveled with his sketchbook. Not much else is known about Bradford, who served as a British Army chaplain in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War (1807 – 1814). In that conflict, British troops joined Spanish forces in their resistance to Napoleon. As Reverend Bradford accompanied his fellow British soldiers across...

In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. Jane Ireland and her sister Anna Maria were artists and print-makers in 18th-century London. Like many early women artists in Europe—to whom formal training was rarely available—the Ireland sisters learned their craft from their father. Samuel Ireland...

Frank Karslake introduced the Guild of Women Binders in 1898 after meeting an influential group of female bookbinders in various parts of Britain; many of whom worked in shops under men or even from their own homes.  Karslake first became interested in these makers in 1897 when he visited the Victorian Era Exhibition at the Earl’s...

This raucous drawing was made by English printmaker (Isaac) Robert Cruikshank in 1836.  Cruikshank’s dense scene includes genteel figures seated around an enormous, decorated cake while others, emboldened by inebriation, climb a rafter at the left.  Two oversized and garish figures both literally and figuratively steal the cake; however: the male figure holds a full...