THE MAKING OF

ORANGES AND LEMONS

"Oranges and lemons ring the bells of St. Clement's,
You owe me five farthings ring the bells of St. Martin's,
When will you pay me? Ring the bells at Old Bailey,
When I grow rich, ring the bells at Shoreditch.
When will that be? Ring the bells of Stepney,
I do not know, rings the great bell at Bow.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!"

a closer look

Oranges and Lemons, a tuneful folksong often accompanied in the school playground by a dancing game, growing faster and faster until one unlucky player is caught out on the final, fateful line. The lyrics of the rhyme are said to be based around the sequence of churches passed by prisoners as they were marched to the Tower of London (and we all know what happened there).

For this design, Sabina chose to invoke the idea of Mother Goose, flying gracefully above the churches of Victorian London (or is she falling?). She is adorned with a pretty grosgrain ribbon, swirling and twisting in an elegant and pleasing spiral, although the ribbon seems to have snapped, just as it crosses her neck. Above her, the sky is filled with a scene of exotic and explosively vibrant citrus fruits, each so foreign and shocking against the grey London landscape. Amongst the fruits, a striking green parrot looms, heralding the arrival of tropical new species to England, an unknown threat to our domestic breeds of the era.

PENCIL ILLUSTRATION IN PROGRESS

A CLOSER LOOK IN COLOUR

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