George Elgar Hicks, R.A. (1824-1914)

This painting illustrates the grand public hall of St Martin's-Le-Grand post office in London, built between 1824 and 1829 by Robert Smirke, R.A. (1780-1867), architect of the British Museum. It shows the hectic moments as crowds rush to meet the six o'clock post, particularly on Friday night when newspapers were delivered en masse to achieve the deadline for free postage. This is particularly evident to the right side of the painting where the 'Newspaper Fair or Shoot' can be seen in which a window was opened at the same time at the end of each day (except Sunday) to allow for the rapid influx of newspapers. For further reading see M. Bills, ''The General Post Office - One Minute to Six' by George Elgar Hicks', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 144, no. 1194, September 2002, pp. 550-6).
This is a replica of the larger version which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860 (no. 367, now at the Museum of London). A further sketch is recorded in Hicks' notebook (whereabouts unknown).