The Humorous Diversion of Sliding on the ice

This engraving is derived from a painting which furnished one of 50 supper box pictures at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. The supper box was an ornate wooden shelter formed of two side walls and a roof, framing picturesque views through the Gardens, where guests could take supper. The artist Francis Hayman was commissioned to paint entertainment scenes Here he selected `children's games' and specifically sliding on the ice which appeared in box 24 on the eastern range of boxes.
The original painting is held by the V&A Museum and this engraving is not a reverse image of the painting and first appeared in the New Universal Magazine between 1752-4. They are of coarser quality than previous engravings.