| Brief Description |
This figurine, carved from wood and gaudily painted, is Bill Sikes, a vicious thief in Charles Dickens' second novel, "Oliver Twist" published in monthly parts from 1837 to 1839. The novel tells the story of the orphan Oliver set against the seamy underside of the London criminal world.
Sikes worked with Fagin's band of pickpockets and used Oliver to rob the Brownlow home. When his lover Nancy tries to help Oliver, she is found out by Fagin who narks to Sikes. He then murders Nancy.
Sikes is depicted wearing a black jacket and cravat, a red waistcoat and yellow trousers; he has a strikingly unpleasant expression on his face.
|
