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Lot Essay
The critic of the Art Journal wrote of the present picture: 'The honourable member, whom we see standing defiantly with folded arms before a deputation of his constituency, rather mixed in character, shouting out his response to their questionings in language evidently more forcible than choice, belongs to the old school. He wears his scarlet hunting coat and top-boots and is at no pains to conceal what he thinks of the deputation and their views. As was to be expected, the picture is full of very varied character; but what was not to be so confidently looked for, it possesses also refinement as well as humour.'
Erskine Nicol was a Scot and an exponent of genre, usually of a humourous nature. Born at Leith, Nicol entered the Trustee's Academy in 1838, and after a spell in Ireland, settled in London in 1862. He became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1868, and belonged to the 'Auld Lang Syne Club', a coterie of Scottish artists living in London, who met regularly to exchange ideas.
Erskine Nicol was a Scot and an exponent of genre, usually of a humourous nature. Born at Leith, Nicol entered the Trustee's Academy in 1838, and after a spell in Ireland, settled in London in 1862. He became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1868, and belonged to the 'Auld Lang Syne Club', a coterie of Scottish artists living in London, who met regularly to exchange ideas.