Perth Station, Coming South

Painting, oil on canvas, 'Perth Station, Coming South' by George Earl, 1895. Framed and glazed.

Depicts a busy platform with passengers preparing to board a train for London at the close of the shooting season. The scene is set in about 1885, before the station was enlarged. There are crowds of passengers with hunting dogs, including pointers and setters, and among the luggage are grouse, blackcock and stags' antlers. Station porters carry luggage, a boy sells The Scotsman newspaper and passengers bid farewell to their friends and families. There are signs for the Highland and Caledonian Railways, waiting rooms and notices forbidding smoking. Signed and dated by the artist at bottom right.

A companion painting ‘Going North’ depicts the outward journey. The images are full of life and detail, and give a good impression of what it was like to travel by train in style during the latter part of the Victorian era.