Louis Philippe Boitard (1712-1758) is best known for his designs of satirical prints, book illustrations, and portraits. The son of French designer and engraver Francis Boitard (1667-1719), from whom he most likely learned engraving techniques, Boitard was initially thought to be a Frenchman who emigrated to London in the 1730s. Recent scholarship however suggests that his roots in London were long established as he was baptised in 1712 at St. Mary-le-Bow. Having worked in Paris for the King of France, by 1742, Boitard ultimately returned to London and settled there. Particularly interested in satirical social subject matter, Boitard produced numerous studies of London street life, focusing primarily on poor men and women, frequently intoxicated or asleep. This drawing depicts five poor street figures from Covent Garden, with a focus on their individual head coverings. It is likely Boitard was able to capture his subjects with such immediacy because the artist’s own poverty-stricken circumstances at this stage of his career, as he spent much time on the streets with such characters. His concise use of line in this drawing points to his training as an engraver. The majority of Boitard’s known drawings, including this one as well as two currently in the Courtauld Gallery’s collection (D.1952.RW.3362 and D.1952.RW.3471), were part of an album containing sixty-five sheets whose contents were broken up and dispersed between 1943 and 1960. A selection of the drawings from this album, including this one, are related to Boitard’s 1747 engraving, The Covent Garden Morning Frolick (in the British Museum); the woman on the far right of this drawing can be seen on the extreme right of the print. A satire on urban life in London, The Covent Garden Morning Frolick depicts a group of night revellers making their way through a crowd of market traders in Covent Garden during the early morning hours. A strong example of a genre of art focusing on interactions between rich and poor, this print recalls what is perhaps the best-known instance of this category: Morning, Hogarth’s 1738 engraving of a lady passing market girls and beggars on her way to church. This scene of contrasts embodies mid-eighteenth-century Covent Garden, whose flower and vegetable markets surrounded both the heart of the cultural sphere of art and theatre and a hotbed of urban debauchery.

John Bowles (1702?-1779) (owned as part of an album); by descent to his daughter, Margaret Bowles; by descent to her son-in-law, Ponsonby Shaw (1784-1871); Colnaghi (London); purchased there by Leonard Duke (1889-1971) by 1940 (album broken up between 1943 and 1960); purchased from him by Spink (London); William Drummond, until 2016; purchased from him by Lowell Libson and Jonny Yarker Ltd. Gallery (London); purchased thereby The Spooner Trust; gift to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2018

William, Iolo A., Early English Watercolours, London: The Connoisseur, 1952
p. 20

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower centre edge, grey ink, dated by the artist: “Headdresses in Covt Garden 1747.”. Verso: right of centre, graphite: “23”; right centre edge, graphite: “1 ½ ÷ / 2 / 2’4”. Support, Recto: upper right corner, graphite, circled: “S.931”; lower centre, graphite: ““1747 Covent Garden” L.P. Boitard”. Mount (modern), Verso of front cover: written twice at left centre and lower right corner, graphite: “51238-A”. Mount (modern), Recto of back cover: lower left corner, black ink: “78 £2.200” and in graphite: “R”; lower centre edge, black ink: “BOITARD”.

Collector's mark: none.