The Knifegrinder

James Charles 1851 - 1906

Summary

A street scene depicting a boy and a girl watching a man grind knives in front of a large yellow ochre-coloured cottage. This is a scene of Victorian England; the girl wears a mid-length dress of white lace and holds a watering-can in her right hand. The boy stands casually with his hand in his pocket wearing a bowler hat (indicating that he is perhaps working-class) wearing a shirt and calf-length trousers.

Display Label

The Knifegrinder 1887 James Charles 1851 - 1906 Oil on canvas Two well-dressed children watch fascinated, as an old man sharpens a knife by pedalling the wheel of his grinding machine. The larger wheels on the cart indicate that he pushes it from house to house to ply his trade. This pretty scene is a study of youth and age, the contrast between innocence and experience. Warrington-born James Charles mainly painted unpretentious scenes of village life, portraits, and landscapes painted mostly on the spot. The invention of tin tubes of paint and portable easels facilitated painting outdoors by the late 1800s. John Maddocks gift 1908.42