Kew Bridge

In this animated watercolour a dramatic near-collision is depicted at Kew Bridge. A wayward carriage speeds towards the centre of the composition while a woman on the left falls off from her collapsing horse. A gentleman rider in the centre has lost his hat in the fray, as he attempts to control his mount.

Rowlandson's restricted palette means that the same shades of blue, yellow and pale red recur throughout the scene, highlighting the clothing of the figures on the horses in particular. The background, by comparison, is only faintly evoked and does not detract attention from the activity in the foreground.

This is a copy, by an unknown hand, of a Rowlandson watercolour in the Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino.