77th East Middlesex Regiment. Captain William Pechell

77th East Middlesex Regiment. An attractive pen and ink drawing in sepia of the statue of Captain William Pechell, 77th Foot showing the officer in heroic pose with raised sword in his right hand and 77th shako in his left. He stands on a rocky base with cannon balls. The 9 x 7 ins [28 x 18 cm] unsigned drawing on folded paper has marks and small pieces of old tape to the verso where it has at some time been fixed in a window mount. The statue disappeared from its original position in Brighton and its present state is not known although there are several images of it on the internet, some minus sword, shako, and head. Pechell was commissioned into the 77th in 1848 and fought bravely in the Crimean War where he fell at the siege of Sebastopol. The style, paper and condition suggest this was probably drawn around the time of the statue’s first appearance in Brighton and the central fold probably shows that it was sent to to someone at the time. A poignant reminder of the fate of so many old military statues and a warning of the possible fate of ones which still grace the country.     mar17/1