View of the River Thames during the 1683-1684 frost fair, London tibor vaga Charles Gassiot

Charles Gassiot

showing five figures playing with a blindfolded young man

Scene set at the 'Well of Moses' on the western shore of the Red Sea

Military figure in the uniform of the fifth regiment of the Loyal London Volunteers

View of the River Thames during the 1683-1684 frost fair, London tibor vaga Charles GassiotView of the River Thames during the 1683 1684 frost fair, London, 1716. Eating, drinking and entertainment booths can be seen stretching across the ice. Figures travel by horse drawn coach, skates, boats with wheels and boats transformed into sledges. The item has been divided into 45 playing cards with instructions in the margins. Winters in Britain were often particularly cold in the 17th and 18th centuries, a period known as the 'Little Ice Age'.