A striking woodcut print by William Nicholson from his 1898 London Types series, depicting a sandwich-man in the streets of the capital.

William Nicholson produced the series London Types in 1898, capturing the diverse characters that populated the city streets at the turn of the century. This print depicts a sandwich-man, a figure once common in the urban environment, tasked with carrying advertising boards to promote services or events. The man is shown in profile, his posture suggesting the weariness of his occupation. The board he carries bears the text Ecce Homo, a Latin phrase meaning behold the man, which adds a layer of irony to the mundane nature of his work.

Nicholson utilised a woodcut technique that relies on bold, simplified forms and a restricted palette. The composition is structured by strong contrasts between light and dark areas, a method that draws attention to the silhouette of the subject against the architectural background. The inclusion of a passerby in the distance provides a sense of scale and context, placing the figure within the busy life of London. The limited use of colour, applied by hand to the woodblock print, focuses the viewer on the graphic quality of the image rather than decorative detail.

This work reflects the artist's interest in the graphic arts and his ability to distil complex social observations into clear, visual narratives. Nicholson was a member of the Beggarstaff Brothers, a partnership that revolutionised poster design through the use of flat colour and stark outlines. This influence is visible in the Sandwich-Man, where the economy of line and the deliberate arrangement of shapes create a powerful image. The print serves as a record of a vanished profession, documenting the visual culture of late Victorian and Edwardian London through a lens that is both observant and detached.