While the Museum of London has a large collection of watercolours by James Lawson Stewart, relatively little is known about the artist. Census and archival research has provided some of his dates, addresses and professional details, but a picture of Stewart, the man, remains elusive. He was born in 1841 and brought up in Southwark, the son of baker. His marriage certificate reveals that he was living in Lambeth and working as a surveyor by 1868, and was listed as an architect and surveyor in the censuses of 1871 and 1881. By 1884, however, he was giving his profession as ‘artist’ and the censuses of 1891, 1901 and 1911 list him as an ‘Artist in Watercolours’. Exhibition records show that he exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere between 1884 and 1905.
The majority of his known works depict London buildings and locations. Some of these were probably drawn from life, but others depict London of an earlier period and were based on old prints. As a result the accuracy of these works cannot always be relied upon despite their highly detailed and naturalistic appearance. Many of the works in the Museum of London were received as a gift in 1934 and depict locations written about in the works of Charles Dickens. These were originally commissioned to be reproduced on a set of cigarette cards issued by R and J Hill Ltd in 1926 and 1934 entitled Historic Places from Dickens Classics.