Scene at a crossroads with a horse and carriage bolting, a stagecoach approaching in bacgkround<br><p>A comic, if painful, endpiece to an album of drawings and watercolours (PAI4289). It depicts the aftermath of an accident after a horse has bolted, knocking a well-dressed woman (seen from behind) and a man (with a bloody nose, looking out towards the viewer) from their carriage, as a stagecoach approaches over the brow of a nearby hill. Elsewhere, the artist has included several humorous references to the scene - the precise meaning of which are now lost. For example, among the bill posters decorating a signpost is one that reads: '10L REWARD LOST RED CASE'. A small red case lies on the ground by the feet of the carriage driver. Another poster obscures a partially legible sign that subsequently  reads 'RIGHT ON' (Presumably from 'Brighton') and '[O]UT OVER', and a discarded letter in the lower left corner begins 'Dear John'.
</p><p>Final page from an album of drawings and watercolours (PAI4289) formerly owned, and possibly made, by the renowned antiquarian of Kent and churchman the Rev. Thomas Streatfeild (1777-1848). The album is inscribed on the frontispiece by a later owner, and with a variant spelling: ‘Rev. T. Streatfield / 1777-1848 / Sketchbook of shipboard scenes’.
</p><p>The present album of pencil drawings and watercolours represents a departure from the sobriety of Streatfeild’s activities as a curate and antiquarian. It begins with a few pencil studies: a bridge, trees and animals, but is largely made up of a group of scenes aboard ship, presumably taken from life. The collected vignettes and caricatures offer a humorous glimpse of life on board ship, as passengers find their sea-legs and the crew carry out their duties. Curiously, none of the drawings include any suggestion of a port or coastline, or any other indication of where the ship was sailing from or to. However, it seems likely that the images record the voyage of a packet boat crossing the English Channel or North Sea.
</p><p>The album remained with Streatfeild’s descendants until purchased by the Museum in 1969.<br></p>
Scene at a crossroads, with horse and cart bolting, stagecoach approaching in backround
<div class="fn value">
Reverend Thomas Streatfeild (1777-1848)</div>
circa 1820 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1820-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div>
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