G is for Gunsmith
By BISHOP, William , 1827
£1,100
BUY

The Bishop of Bond Street

Ephemera
  • Author: BISHOP, William
  • Publication place: [London
  • Publication date: after 1827]
  • Physical description: Engraved carte-de-visite.
  • Dimensions: 37 by 75mm (1.5 by 3 inches).
  • Inventory reference: 17707

Notes

The “Bishop of Bond Street”, William Bishop (1797-1871), was the legendary agent of William Westley Richards, eponymous founder of Westley Richards, Gunsmith at 170 New Bond Street. Originally a jeweller, described as a “rough cut gem from Ealing”. Teasdale-Buckell described him in more detail: “A large and roomy man, old Bishop, sitting in front of the old white mantelpiece …his gouty leg up on a chair before him. Dressed from head to foot in the blackest of black, a huge white frill proceeding from his breast, and an enormous pair of shirt cuffs turned back over his coat sleeves, and a neatly brimmed hat, which no mortal eye had ever seen off his head. A truly right reverend and Episcopal figure, and worthy of the only Bishop who had ever passed an Act through Parliament, as it was his wont to boast concerning the Dog Act, termed Bishop’s Act” (‘Experts on Guns and Shooting’, 1900).

Bibliography

  1. See BM Heal 69.53 for Westley Richards trade card

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