The Accident in
Lombard Street

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)
The Accident in Lombard Street
Philadelphia: 1787
Etching
Prints and Photographs Division

Renowned painter Charles Willson Peale was an advocate of art galleries and instructive displays for the public. His portrayal of a maid's mishap in his own Philadelphia neighborhood is a rare glimpse of every day life in a young American city. It is also the first street scene by an American printmaker. The story unfolds in verse: "The pye from Bake-house She had brought/ But let it fall for want of thought/ And laughing Sweeps collect around/ The pye that's scatter'd on the ground." During this period, mundane urban dramas such as this one were uncommon subjects in American prints.