London Nomades (1877): Art, History and Details

London Nomades (1877) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is John Thomson (Scottish, 1837–1921).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

“In London there are a number of what may be termed, owing to their wandering, unsettled habits, nomadic tribes,” wrote John Thomson’s collaborator, reporter Adolphe Smith. Living in wagons, they moved around the city, working seasonal jobs or selling cheap wares at fairs and markets or door to door.

Object facts

• Title: London Nomades
• Date: 1877
• Creator attribution: John Thomson (Scottish, 1837–1921)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: woodburytype
• Dimensions: Image: 10.8 x 8.6 cm (4 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.); Paper: 10.8 x 8.6 cm (4 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.); Mounted: 27.1 x 20.8 cm (10 11/16 x 8 3/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - British 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2019.48

A detail from the museum

This wagon was owned by William Hampton, “a man of fair intelligence and good natural ability” who was, however, illiterate and had a “dread of education.”

Collection credit

Photography Discretionary Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.