image details
Full image caption
Shaftesbury, or Lost and Found. Oil on canvas. This painting shows a young shoeblack, shoe cleaner and a street urchin outside the shop of printseller Henry Graves at 6 Pall Mall. The elder boy wears the uniform of the London Shoeblack Brigade, founded by John MacGregor and Lord Shaftesbury in 1851. He is pointing at a portrait of Shaftesbury, and is perhaps recruiting the 'lost' younger boy into the safety of the Brigade.
Shoeblacks, like chimney sweeps, were a worry to respectable Victorians because of their extreme youth. The Brigade aimed to regulate the way shoeblacks made a living by giving them uniforms, equipment and regular street pitches. It also encouraged church attendance and moral instruction.
Shoeblacks, like chimney sweeps, were a worry to respectable Victorians because of their extreme youth. The Brigade aimed to regulate the way shoeblacks made a living by giving them uniforms, equipment and regular street pitches. It also encouraged church attendance and moral instruction.
Artist/Photographer/Maker
William MacDuff
Date
1862 AD - 1862 AD
Image Number
001115
