James Figg, detail from Southwark Fair
by William Hogarth
1733/4
Courtesy of the Yale Centre for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (Accession Number B1977.14.18332)
This is probably a portrait of Figg as a mounted swordsman: "Figg, bald-headed, seated on a pony, is seen starting to ride through the Fair. It was the practice of a great Master of Defence to ride through the City preceded by trumpets and drums and colours flying. Figg kept a great tiled' booth on the Bowling Green, Southwark, during the time of the Fair. There was a performance daily at noon, which closed at four" (Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Hogarth's London: Pictures of the Manners of the Eighteenth Century, Constable, Ltd., 1909, p. 146).
This image is provided courtesy of the Yale Center for British Art, which specifies the image is in the public domain. This work can be freely copied, modified, and distributed for any purpose.