BLIND FIDDLER Sir David Wilkie - Charles William Sharpe VICTORIAN ENGRAVING

Original Victorian 10 3/4 inch x 14 1/4 inch Etching and Engraving titled THE BLIND FIDDLER.

A blind, old fiddler on the left, playing to a large family; an old woman by the hearth holding a small child in her lap, two children watching the fiddler, a man and woman behind them playing with another child, and two boys on the right, one trying to imitate the fiddler, various domestic objects scattered around the room.

Engraving by Charles William Sharpe (1818 - 1899).

From the painting by Sir David Wilkie (1785 - 1841). Sir David Wilkie RA was a Scottish painter, especially known for his genre scenes. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical scenes, portraits, including formal royal ones, and scenes from his travels to Europe and the Middle East. His main base was in London, but he died and was buried at sea, off Gibraltar, returning from his first trip to the Middle East. He was sometimes known as the "people's painter".

Lettered with title, followed by "Painted by Sir David Wilkie RA - Engraved by C.W.Sharpe / From the Picture in the National Gallery / London, Published for the Proprietors by George Virtue, 26, Ivy Lane".

Image size 8 5/8 inch x 6 1/2 inch

The engraving is in very good condition with a 1/2 inch tear at the bottom edge. Reverse side blank