‘The Curious Hatter’

‘The Curious Hatter’

Anyone that frequents Old Spitalfields Market in London will recognise Colin Rosie. Rain, hail or shine, Colin is dressed in a dapper three-piece suit, shiny patent black shoes and a snazzy silk top hat. His market stall ‘Last Stop For The Curious’ displays the most attractive collection of silk top hats, bowlers, trilbys, fedoras and homburgs of every colour, both vintage and new.

I have wandered through the market for years, and the fine array of hats, as well as Colin’s debonair dress sense, have always caught my attention. Eventually I was one of the very many people to stop and ask Colin if he would allow me to photograph him. Thankfully, he very graciously agreed. The Orcadian’s unique dress sense and friendly persona attracts people from far and wide. Colin is an expert in hats, and some of the rare vintage silk top hats in his collection date from the 1800s, fetching a value of many thousands. Ask anyone in the market, Colin is now an East End institution in his own right and it would be remiss of me not to capture this gentleman in one of my paintings.

This painting is part of a larger body of work based on Spitalfields and the East End of London.