Mr George's Shooting Gallery, off Leicester Square

This watercolour depicts an area described by Dickens as Mr George's Shooting Gallery, off Leicester Square, in Bleak House. It was described as follows, 'that enormous region lying about the Haymarket and Leicester Square, which is a centre of attraction to indifferent foreign hotels and indifferent foreigners, racket-courts, fighting-men, swordsmen, foot-guards, old china, gaming houses, exhibitions, and a large medly of shabbiness and shrinking out of sight. (Mr George's S.G. was here). Penetrating to the heart of this region, he arrives, by a curt and a long white-washed passage, and a great brick building, composed of bare walls, floors, roof-rafters and skylights; on the front of which, if it can be said to have any front, is painted GEORGE'S SHOOTING GALLERY etc...in it there are gas-lights and two whitened targets for rifle shooting, and archery accommodation, and fencing appliances, and all necessaries for the British art of Boxing.'

Very little is known about James Lawson Stewart who exhibited watercolours in various London galleries between 1883-1889. He died in c. 1918 and towards the end of life was employed to copy prints of London; the accuracy of some of the locations should therefore be questioned.

The Museum was gifted a large selection of watercolours featuring locations which appeared in Dickens's works in 1934 and a set of cigarette cards was issued by R and J Hill Ltd in 1926 and 1934 entitled Historic Places from Dickens Classics which featured watercolours by Stewart.