ATTRIBUTED TO ROBERT WILLIAM BUSS (BRITISH, 1804-1875)
The Wooden Walls of Old England
Oil on canvas
21 x 28in. (53.3 x 71cm.)

This painting depicts characters from Scottish author Tobias Smollet's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, first published in 1751. The main character, Peregrine Pickle, is an orphan placed in the guardianship of Commodore Hawser Trunnion who lives in a garrison along with his shipmates. In this painting, the Commodore is pictured, along with one of his housemates, re-enacting an action from his naval career. Buss also did an engraving of the same scene, though it should be noted that this scene is not taken from the book, it only uses characters from the book. It is believed that Trunnion's lifestyle influenced the creation of Wemmick in Dicken's Great Expectations.
Robert William Buss (1804-1875) was a Victorian caricaturist, illustrator, painter, and etcher best known for his painting Dickens' Dream. He painted many portraits of famous actors of his day, and did the illustrations for Frances Trollope's The Widow Married and for Frederick Marryat's Peter Simple.