[Rarebooks] fa: HENRY ALKEN (style of?) - 3 ORIGINAL Pencil/Watercolor SPORTING SCENES ca. 1820

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, September 24. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/y9bwtjpz

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Henry Alken (style of and/or attributed to): Two original graphite and watercolor sporting scenes depicting "the chase" and "the kill," the former on laid paper, the latter on wove and bearing the signature "H. Alken" and the date "1820." Each approx. 240 x 365 mm. (9 1/2 x 14 3/8 in), laid onto card backing; some browning and surface dirt. WITH: Another depiction of "the chase," possibly by a different hand, but in the manner of Alken; graphite, on wove paper, 250 x 310 mm. (9 7/8 x 12 1/4 in); wear and short tears to the edges, some creases and a few small spots.

If not made by Alken himself, these sporting images are certainly in his style, and expertly done. Henry Alken (1785-1851) rose to fame alongside George Cruikshank as a social caricaturist and illustrator and enjoyed considerable popularity in his time, especially as an illustrator of horses and sporting scenes. He has since become "the object of a sort of fetish-worship" among book and print collectors (Hardie, English Coloured Books).