Engravings of Charles and George Hunt 1820 - 1870: Racing, Coaching, Hunting, Landscapes & Caricatures

Description

Charles and George Hunt, two of the most skilled and prolific engravers of their day, flourished during the boom period of the English Sporting Print (1820-1870). The British public's enthusiasm for horse racing, hunting and coaching grew rapidly during the early years of the nineteenth century, and the aspirational middle classes wanted colourful images of these scenes to decorate their walls. So the Hunts were kept busy reproducing the oil paintings and watercolours of, among others, Henry Alken, J. F. Herring, F. C. Turner and James Pollard, capturing the essence and atmosphere of this particularly English art.This is a useful reference work for dealers and collectors of nineteenth-century engravings and aquatints featuring horse racing, coaching, hunting, other sporting scenes, and caricatures. It also provides an introduction to the development of British sporting art from the late seventeenth century, and the boom in print making from c.1820.

John Hickman's interest in Charles and George Hunt, arose because Charles was his ancestor, but also because, 40 years ago, when he started his collection, he could furnish the bare walls of his first flat with their prints. Later, Alfred Gates of Ackermann's, the print dealers, suggested that he should research and compile this reference work on the Hunts. An introduction to British sporting art and print making by John Sabin, and a note on early-nineteenth caricatures by Kenneth Baker put the work of Charles and George Hunt in context.