Figures by Chelsea Waterworks observing the fires of the Gordon Riots, 7 June 1780

On 2 June 1780, Lord George Gordon, (1751-1793), M.P., led a peaceful demonstration against Parliament demanding a repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. However, he quickly lost control of the crowd and for six days, breakaway groups went on the rampage, attacking Roman Catholic institutions and London's symbols of authority such as the prisons, Downing Street and the Bank of England. The violence culminated on 7 June 1780, later called 'Black Wednesday', when the rioters set fire to a large number of buildings shown here, including (from right to left), the King's Bench Prison, the Borough Clink Prison, the Blackfriars Toll Collector's House, the vicinity of the Fleet and Bridewell Prisons and nine houses in Great Queen Street. The onlookers are standing on Chelsea Bridge (now Ebury Bridge) and given the vivid technique and correct disposition of the fires, it is probable that the artist was also at the same vantage point. A number of prints were made of subjects from the Gordon Riots, however, contemporary painted records such as this are extremely rare.

Francis Swaine worked as a messenger for the Navy in 1735 and seems to have been practising as a marine painter by the late 1740s. There is little trace of his place in London's art world until his frequent contributions from 1761 to the exhibitions of both the Free and Incorporated Societies of Artists. Much of Swaine's work is close stylistically to that of Peter Monamy and his son, Monamy Swaine, an artist specialising in still-life and genre, he was perhaps named after this artist.