May Day at Holland House

Holland House was built in the early years of the seventeenth century by Sir Walter Cope, Chamberlain of the Exchequer in 1609, Keeper of Hyde Park in 1610 and Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries in 1612. First called Cope House, it was renamed Holland House after it had passed to Cope's son-in-law, Sir Henry Rich, who was made 1st Earl of Holland in 1629. From 1767, when it was acquired by Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, until the death of the 4th Lord Holland in 1859, Holland House served as a salon for the leading politicians, literary figures and artists of the day. The mansion was severely damaged by enemy action in 1941 and largely demolished in 1955-7, leaving only the shell of the ground floor as the backdrop for an open-air theatre, and the east wing, which was converted into a youth hostel.

George Cattermole is best known for his paintings and watercolours of antiquarian, literary and historical subjects. In 1840 Dickens asked his friend Cattermole to help illustrate a new periodical entitled Master Humphrey's Clock in which Dickens planned to include tales about London's mythical and historical past. The work was rescued from failure by serialising The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge, both of which were illustrated by Cattermole, including an image of a Jacobean gabled Maypole Inn for the opening scene of the latter.