[The cobbler turned preacher], Isaac Cruikshank, 1791

A ragged cobbler (not caricatured) wearing an apron stands full face on his low bench in the attitude of a preacher. He holds out a dilapidated shoe in one hand, a strap in the other. Behind him (right) are listeners: a stolid man and two elderly and agitated crones. On the bench behind him are his tools; beside it (left) is a tub in which a shoe is being soaked, a hammer, &c. Beneath are etched in two columns twenty lines of verse beginning: 'behold the man of whom 'tis true the mending trade, he doth persue' 1 may 1791. Etching. Date: 1791. Dimensions: Height: 337 mm; Width: 230 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. (The cobbler turned preacher) (BM 1865,1111.2010)