A Blacksmith’s Shop Joseph Wright 1771

Wright developed a number of paintings on the theme of blacksmiths working at night in strangely improvised workshops. A water-powered tilt hammer is shown in two images, but here the traditional blacksmith relies on his own strength to wield the hammer. A plausible narrative is provided by the inclusion of figures seen beyond the arch with a horse that has presumably lost a shoe whilst travelling by moonlight.
A bar of white-hot iron illuminates the three muscular blacksmiths, and also a group of children and a contemplative old man. This incongruous group might refer to ‘The Three Ages of Man’, a Renaissance theme particularly associated with Titian (1488-1576).

John Wilkes William Duesbury & Co c1775

Politician and agitator John Wilkes (1725-1797) leans on an architectural plinth from which two scrolls hang inscribed ‘Magna Carta’ and ‘Bill of Rights’. A book by his feet is entitled ‘Lock on Govt.’
Wilkes had a turbulent career due to his radical views and reputation as a libertine. He used his weekly journal, North Britain, to criticize leading politicians and the monarch, which led at various times to his arrest, imprisonment and exile. But Wilkes’ popularity enabled him to recover from these setbacks and eventually he became Lord Mayor of the City of London (1774).

Augmentation

In championing the rights of freeborn Englishmen, which were established under the Magna Carta, Wilkes’ ideas would have chimed with those of the artisan blacksmiths in Wright’s painting. Wilkes defended the right of voters, rather than parliament, to determine who should represent them, believing that every man had ‘natural reason’ enabling him to properly judge political issues. He argued for freedom of speech in the press and the reform of parliament, which was then dominated by the English aristocracy.
Wilkes twice represented the Middlesex parliamentary constituency, which was among the few with a large and socially diverse electorate including many artisans. As the public sphere expanded, artisans too held meetings in pubs to discuss the political issues of the day.