Reigate (An Excursion to Brighthelmstone)

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of a set of eight aquatints devoted to posting houses on the main road from London to Brighthelmstone (Brighton), together with attractions of the seaside resort, this print represents the White Hart Inn at Reigate, with an elegant carriage, horses and grooms waiting outside. Related text tells us that this is "the second Post Stage, 23 miles from London...situated in the Vale of Holmsdale, and beautifully surrounded by hills...Here there is a handsome Church, a Charity School, and a Market House.... At the White-Hart the traveller is certain of meeting with every accomodation he can wish: good post-horses, an excellent larder, genuine wines, &c. which have rendered Mrs. Sully worthy the encouragement she meets with.--His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in his excursions to Brighthelmstone frequently dines here."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art