Intelligence of the Peace

Date1783

Artist Robert Dighton 1752 - 1814

MediumPen and black ink and watercolor on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 13 1/16 × 9 3/4 in (33.18 × 24.76cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2026-20

DescriptionA London street scene featuring a cobbler reading the Gazette to a group of intent listeners. He stands outside his stall, which is protected by a large building behind. A number of placards have been pasted to the wall of the building. Among them are one that is headed Proclamation of Peace, and ending God Save the King. A streetlamp projects from the wall on a bracket; against this rests a ladder on which stands a man who is about to insert the oil-container and wick which his assistant below is supposed to be filling. However, hi is so intent on what the cobbler is reading that he pours the oil on the ground instead of into the lamp. Facing the cobbler is a little chimney-sweep, his bag and brushes over his shoulder. A stout man, carrying a basket puts out his tongue at the reader. The other listeners are a baker with a cylindrical basket of bread on his back; a barber carrying a wig-box inscribed Mr Thos Tipple and a scowling man whose head and shoulders are visible.Label TextPainted by Robert Dighton, this humorous scene was used as the source for an engraving published by Carington Bowles. The drawing shows a group of London working men reading the report of the Proclamation of Peace between Britian and America at the end of the Revolutionary War. The work was published with the title. “Intelligence of the Peace” and was meant to be a satire exploring the all too familiar trope of tradespeople neglecting their work to discuss the politics of the day.Inscription(s)Inscribed in lower left corner "495" and in the center "Intelligence on the Peace". Signed in lower right corner "Dighton del"ProvenanceCarington Bowles [1724-1793]; by family descent until sold in 1953 by Sotheby's (London, April 30, 1953, lot 464 - part of an album), purchased by The Sabin Galleries, London; 1953, purchased by Jeffery Rose; 1978, sold at Sotheby's (London, February 23, 1978, lot 12); Abbott & Holder (London); Michael Winner [1934-2012] (London); 2024, sold at Bonham's (London, December 16, 2024, lot 76); 2024, purchased by Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd; 2026, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).