UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

children, house, people, pram, public house, shop, street.

There are two possible titles, used by Whistler and by his cataloguers, as follows:


'Kings Road Perambulator' (1887/1888, Whistler). 2
'King's Road Chelsea' (1888, Whistler). 3
'Kings Road - Perambulator' (1887/1888, Beatrice Whistler (1857-1896)). 4
'King's Road, Chelsea' (1898, Wunderlich's). 5
'King's Road, Chelsea' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 6


The title 'Perambulator, King's Road' is based on Whistler's original title.

A busy street scene: in the centre foreground is a young woman pushing a pram ('perambulator') with a seated child wearing a large bonnet. There is a two- or three-storey building along the side of the street at left. On the ground floor is a shop with various goods displayed on a small table and on the wall, including the bust of a child and several hats. A woman stands looking at the table. Further back, in the road at right, are people, horses and a carriage, and overhead are two gas lamps. In the middle distance is a street corner with the entrance to a pub, with the partial name 'ROEBU' above the door. Slightly taller buildings, with lots of chimneys, are visible behind the pub. In the far distance at right, there are more houses.

The 'Roebuck' was a public house at 348-350 King's Road, on the corner of Beaufort Street in Chelsea, London. The proprietor was Harry John Lefevre. The adjoining shop was kept by Joseph Lester, oilman, who could well have been patronised by Whistler. Across the street was William Warren, grocer, at No. 346, William James, general draper, at No. 344, and J. F. Randall, chemist, at No. 342. 7 It is just possible that the hats seen in the shop on the left are the draper's wares.