Detail of Vauxhall by Robert Pollard, after Thomas Rowlandson, 1785 © Gerald Coke Handel Collection

This engraving by Robert Pollard is after Thomas Rowlandson's original drawing of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The music pavilion is depicted with singer (Mrs Weichsel) at the lower balcony with violinists behind her, and the other musicians and organ in the larger room behind. It is possible to identify many well known people including Samuel Johnson in the supper-box below the orchestra, the writers James Boswell and Oliver Goldsmith, and Mrs Thrale (who appears twice). Society figures are also depictred including the Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Lady Duncannon being watched by a naval figure with an eye patch and a wooden leg (thought to be Admiral Paisley, but Paisley did not lose his leg and eye until 1st June 1794). Rowlandson's original drawing is in the collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum.