Fat Cats In The City, 1824
February 1, 2019
Fat cats in the City of London are nothing new as these elegant cartoons of Regency bankers from 1824 by Richard Dighton in the archive at the Bishopsgate Institute testify
Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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Great drawings! I wonder if they are based on real people?
Not much has changed, has it? Great caricatures.
Greetings from Boston,
GA, what a colorful array of characters. This panoply by Richard Dighton provides an array of men’s fashions in 1824 – the waistcoats, hats, breeches, pants, spats, boots etc. These fellows certainly look well fed and satisfied with themselves.
What superb talent Richard Dighton possessed. Each character has its own personality. I dont know another way to describe it. If you have ever worked in the City ,in times long past you have seen and perhaps worked with very similar types The workwear and body shape has changed with the times though. I was thereabouts at Holborn during the bustling lunch hour last week and there seemed to be a lot of young men in tight fitting suits looking as though they has just exited the gym.
Thank you for showing us these cartoons they are worth seeing.
“Big men with dainty feet.”
Love the detail in the drawings, in particular the footwear, including spats. A great record as to how the “Fat Cats” clothing looked then. A great record for social history.
As well as all the above, I am very taken with Dighton’s high speed squiggles for crosshatched shadows!