Wife being sold at Smithfield Market, London Berkshire now Clerkenwell Road

now Clerkenwell Road

Half full dresses

looking up the River Thames

View of Greenwich from the hill in Greenwich Park

In the middle distance a man stands behind another man and distracts him by tickling his ear

Wife being sold at Smithfield Market, London Berkshire now Clerkenwell RoadWife being sold at Smithfield Market, London, c1820. A rowdy scene at Smithfield cattle market with the wife for sale tied by a rope around her waist to a rail in the centre. She doesn't seem unduly concerned at the prospect of being sold and stands with her legs apart, hands on one hip. A man brandishing an ale mug dances beside her; the man on the right possibly her husband holds up one hand for attention. At left a chimney sweep empties soot on the