A Woman Sketching a Child with the Aid of a Camera Lucida
Henry Moses (about 1782-1870)
Pencil and chalk on wove paper
Width 10.8 cm x height 7.5 cm
Museum no. E.8-1946
Drawing was a regular activity of accomplished men and women in 18th and 19th century Britain and gadgets were invented to help them. The woman in this picture is shown drawing with the aid of a camera lucida, patented in 1807. It reflected a reduced transparent image of the scene to be depicted on the paper. The child being depicted is being held still to allow the woman to sketch in the outlines.