A collection of five sheets of courtroom pen and ink sketches, owned by Alfred Swaine Taylor, made at the August 1853 trial Smyth v Smyth, in which imposter Tom Provis tried to claim the Ashton Court Estate and wealth of the Smyths.

Alfred Swaine Taylor (1806-1880) is often described as the ‘father of forensic medicine’. He was a doctor, teacher, an early pioneer of photography, as well as a famous toxicologist. He became something of a Victorian celebrity after providing evidence on several famous poisoning trials including that of William Palmer.

His sketches demonstrate the interrelationship of artistic and scientific skills and how Swaine Taylor approached ways of looking and thinking in both his professional and private life, as a medic, forensic examiner and expert witness, and whilst at leisure.