Features of Two Spitalfields Pubs: London #10

This painting in Spitalfields, by Ian Harper, is inside The Ten Bells on the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street. It depicts the entrance to the pub in the middleground on the left and Nicholas Hawksmoor's colossal Christ Church in the background on the right. Framing the painting in the foreground are the artists Gilbert and George, who are Spitalfields inhabitants. Dennis Severs seems to be staring at the viewer, although I'm at a loss as to the identity of the eccentrically dressed guy with the ostrich-feathered hat, although I'm pretty certain someone will soon be informing me. This painting, Spitalfields in Modern Times, now serves as a kind of companion piece to the much older work, Spitalfields in ye Olden Time – Visiting a Weaver's Shop, which is also in the pub.

 

I prefer not to mention the (relatively brief) pub name change.

 

'The one

and only

GIZMO

Local personality

and shihtzu

LIVED HERE

5.11.88–13.1.99'

 

This memorial is on the wall of The Golden Heart pub, also in Commercial Street, and is dedicated to landlady Sandra Esquilant's pet dog.