Mansion House, Cheapside, plate one from Original Views of London as It Is
Medium
Hand-colored lithograph on paper
Dimensions
31.5 × 42.7 cm (12 7/16 × 16 13/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
131163
Art Historical Context
Thomas Shotter Boys created this hand-colored lithograph in 1842 as the first plate in his celebrated series *Original Views of London as It Is*. A pioneering British artist in the medium, Boys used lithography—a relatively new reproductive technique—to capture the city’s architecture with remarkable precision and atmosphere. The hand-coloring adds subtle warmth and depth, transforming a printed image into a vibrant record of Victorian London. The scene depicts Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor, set along the historic thoroughfare of Cheapside. Produced during a period o...
About the Artist
Thomas Shotter Boys · 1803–1874
Thomas Shotter Boys was born on 2 January 1803 in Pentonville, London, and received his first professional training as an apprentice to the engraver George Cooke. When his apprenticeship concluded he crossed the Channel to Paris, a move that would transform his artistic direction entirely. There he encountered Richard Parkes Bonington, the brilliant English watercolourist whose fresh, luminous ren...