The Mock Election

A crowd scene: on the right two men sit at a table with wine bottles and glasses. One wearing white shirt and trousers with a red tie and an overcoat; he is attended by a woman. Beside them a man with a red cloak is gesticulating. In the centre a man wearing a yellow coat and blue ribbons doffs his hat to the crowd and in particular his neighbour on the left - a man wearing a tall black hat with red detail and a green coat. Below them a man wearing a red turban, yellow coat and red shoes leads the watching group, he carries a flute/pipe. On the left a small child is catching the attention of his parents and pointing to the events. Behind this small group a further group of figures and within the foreground an elderly woman wearing a black bonnet holding a baby in her arms.

The inspiration for this subject came from the artist’s stay in the King’s Bench Prison for Debt in 1827. Prisoners enacted a ‘masquerade election’ which Haydon watched from his cell. In the picture Haydon includes a number of references alluding to the evils of debt.

This is an oil sketch for a larger painting in the Royal Collection made between 1827 and 1828. This sketch possibly dates from around the time of Haydon’s diary entry for 2 September when he “arranged final colour and Effect of the Election ... I’ll make this picture a brilliant one”.