The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 1, 2023

Barnaby Rudge Helping Lead the Gordon Riots

1884

Charles Green

(British, 1840–1898)

England, 19th century

Watercolor with traces of graphite

Support: Sturdy-weight, blued-white, moderately textured, wove paper

Sheet: 25.4 x 17.6 cm (10 x 6 15/16 in.)

Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz 2013.238

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This drawing was never published as an illustration, but the character of Barnaby appeared in Charles Green's design for a title page for an edition of Dickens's collected works.

Description

Charles Green was one of the most successful black-and-white illustrators in Victorian England, known especially for his images related to the novels of Charles Dickens. The subject of this drawing relates to the writer's historical novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty, based on the Gordon Riots. Here, Green depicted participants in an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists' Act of 1778, the most violent outpouring of religious hatred in 18th-century Britain.

Inscriptions

Inscription

initialed and dated, in brown ink, at lower right: CG / 1884

Provenance
?-?
William Lockwood, Nottingham
1979
(Ramiel M. Howitt, London)
after 1979-2013
Helen and Albert Borowitz, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
2013-
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897: Catalogue, Historical and Commemorative Sections. Exh. Cat. London: Earl's Court, 1897. Mentioned: p. 33, no. 69 hdl.handle.net
Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: pp. 128-29, 146, no. 43; Reproduced: p. 129
Exhibition history

Victorian Era Exhibition, Historical and Commemorative Sections. Earl's Court, London (August 1897).

British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.238