Waterstairs on the Thames, with subsidiary sketches of seated figures (recto); A cloaked woman with a basket (verso)

Executed during Gericault's sojourn in England (1820-21), this drawing probably shows the waterstairs leading to the Thames at Somerset House which at the time appeared to rise directly out of the river. The stairs were destroyed in 1870 to make way for the Victoria Embankment.
While the sketches on the recto and the 'bouquetière' on the verso' cannot be connected to any particular composition they show Gericault's keen absorption in daily life in London.