Print of the Day: Mr. Punch's Fancy Ball, 1844

Click image to enlarge.

Mr. Punch's Fancy Ball
Unknown Origins, 1844
The British Museum

The oversized comic scene shows traditional Punchinello characters gathered for a fancy ball and dance. The engraving is printed on two folding sheets and dates to 1844. We’re not sure who produced this wood engraving. Though the title is printed along the bottom, there’s no mention of artist, engraver or publisher. Even the date is not printed, but rather was added later in pencil.

Antique Image of the Day: A Dutch Toy, 1814

Image from The British Museum

A Dutch Toy!!!-Or, a pretty Play-thing for a Young Princess!!! Huzza

Titled as the above line reads, this satirical print depicts Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817), only child of the Prince Regent (later King George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick.  

In this scene, Princess Charlotte is seated enthroned under a canopy.  She wears the "Prince of Wales' Feathers."  In her hands, she's holding a pantin (a jointed puppet), pulling the string so that the figure's legs and arms are extended.  The pantin is holding a flag inscribed surmounted by an orange.  The flag reads, "Orange Boven."  Meanwhile, the puppet looks at the princess pleadingly.

What's behind this hand-painted engraving?

Princess Charlotte, like many a princess before her (especially one who was thought to be Queen one day) was essentially being told who she should marry.  She preferred Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Uncle of Queen Victoria as well as Prince Albert, Victoria's consort).  Meanwhile, George preferred his daughter to marry the Prince of Orange, and, soon, Orange and Charlotte were engaged.

Charlotte wrote:

No arguments, no threats, shall ever bend me to marry this detested Dutchman.

Eventually, George gave in for the sake of his only (legitimate) child and his only hope of having one of his own continue on the throne after he died.  Princess Charlotte broke off her engagement in a letter of June 16th, giving as reasons, that 'from recent circumstances:

I am perfectly convinced my interest is materially concerned with that of my Mother, and that my residence out of this Kingdom would be equally prejudicial to her interest as to my own.

That Charlotte did this only increased her popularity more.  Though this print suggests that Princess Charlotte had a thing for the Marquis of of Lansdowne (not to be confused with the Baron Lensdown), she really only liked Leopold.  

George IV consented to this and Charlotte and Leopold were married May 2, 1816.

But, she died.  

Charlotte passed away after giving birth to a stillborn son.  She complained, "They've made me tipsy," and was found dead after bleeding terribly.

Had she lived, she would have been Queen after the death of her father and Leopold would have been Prince Consort.  After the death of George IV, the throne went to his brother, William IV, and, then, to his niece, Queen Victoria who married Prince Albert as her consort.  Leopold really pushed for the marriage of the two cousins (Victoria didn't mind, she fancied Albert) so that at least ONE Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha at the side of the British Queen--a role which escaped him in his own life.  Still, he did okay, becoming King of the Belgians.  So, don't cry for him.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Monsieur Mazurier as Mr. Punch, c. 1820

Monsieur Mazurier
Cooke, 1820
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Quite some time ago, we looked at an image of the celebrated Monsieur Mazurier as Mr. Punch.  Here’s another.  This engraving is entitled simply, “Monsieur Mazurier.”

It was published in Paris possibly in the 1820's.  The illustration portrays Mazurier  in a theatrical stance wearing a Punchinello costume. A puppet figure of Mr. Punch can be seen in the background in the same stance.

Engraved by one “C. Motte,” further inscriptions include:

Mr. Mazurier./ Dans le Rôle de Polichinel Vampire/ Theatre de la porte St. Martin' Mr Mazurier/ in the title role in Polichinelle Vampire/ St. Martin Theatre.

So who is this fellow?  Monsieur Charles-François Mazurier performed in “Punchinelle Vampire” as well as in “Jacko, The Brazilian Monkey.”  Both plays were  written by Jean-Baptiste Blache, in Paris and London in the 1820s. In November 1825 Mazurier performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in “Punchinelle Vampire” which was translated as “The Shipwreck of Policinello.”  Playbills for the Covent Garden performances are also housed in the V&A.  

Antique Image of the Day: The Punch and Judy Show, 19th C.

Punch and Judy Show
Hand-colored Print
19th Century
The George Speaight Archive
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Hand-colored with watercolor, this Nineteenth-Century print depicts a crowd of people at a Punch and Judy show. However, there’s a lot more going on in the scene than just the antics of Mr. Punch. We see young Artful Dodgers picking pockets, a curious dog about to take a drink from a man’s pail, and the amorous embrace of a young couple.

Mr. Punch has long been the voice of the people, and here, we see that this unknown artist was aware of the power of Punchinello to draw a crowd from all walks of life. Laborer and gentleman alike have paused in their days to unite—for a moment—in a shared drama of their own.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Punch and the Baby, 18th-19th C.

Mr. Punch and the Baby
Hand-colored Engraving
The George Speaight Archive at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the George Speaight Punch and Judy Archive at the Victoria & Albert Museum, we have this hand-colored (with watercolor) engraving of Mr. Punch. The engraving is difficult to date, and therefore it’s been assigned to a range between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century. 

We don’t know the publisher nor do we know the artist. What we do know is that it’s cute—in its innately Punchy way. In this scene from the traditional Punch & Judy show, we see Mr. Punch happily sending the baby out the window. 

The image is part of a set which, at some point, was pasted onto colored paper along with other Punch-related ephemera.  

Print of the Day: Le Canard a Trois Becs, 1871

Le Canard a Trois Becs
H. Xiat, 1871
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Published in 1871 in Paris, France, this print features a satirical caricature by the artist H. Nérac (also known as H. Xiat) which depicts a duck with three heads. Each head is labeled, in order, “Comite Central,” “Internationale,” and “Commune.” The duck is saddled with a flaming torch which is tied to his body by a red sash.

The print is from a set of caricatures, broadsheets and illustrations in ten volumes printed in France by Jailly and Co. Many of them, like this one, are hand-colored.

An inscription reads:
COMMUNEUX PAR H. NÉRAC.
LE CANARD A TROIS BECS
TABLEAU DE FAMILLE 

The basis of the joke is a visual pun wherein the word “canard” takes a double meaning. It is French for “duck,” but can also refer to a hoax. Three conflicting political figures are uncomfortably crowded onto the body of one duck. 

The Home Beautiful: The de Lamerie Silver Basket, 1731-1732

Silver Basket
Paul de Laremie, c. 1731
This and all related images from
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This silver basket was inherited by the great grandson of Sir Robert Walpole—the first prime minister of Great Britain. Sir Robert had a great appreciation for silver and was one of the earliest patrons of the Huguenot silver smith Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751), the maker of this piece.

The Huguenots (French Protestants) had no choice but to leave France after Catholic King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. This edict had allowed a degree of religious tolerance in France, but after it was revoked, non-Catholics were in a sticky situation.

Many of the Huguenots, like de Lamerie, were skilled craftsmen. A large portion of them settled in London where they found a ready market eager to snatch up their wares—mostly luxury items, silver, furniture, jewelry, watches and such. These items also had the appeal of a distinctly French style.

A silver, two-handled oval basket, it sits on a rim foot of pieced ornament. The sides are pierced and chased in a simulation of woven basketwork. The basket’s handles are fashioned as twined rope-work. A coat of arms is engraved on the interior. De Laremie made this basket between 1731 and 1732.

It’s now part of the Gilbert Collection at the V&A.

Drawing of the Day: Sheet Music Cover for 'Le Petit Carnaval,' 19th C.

Sheet Music Cover
Mid Nineteenth Century
English
The George Speaight Archive
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Our Mr. Punch inspired many a composer, it seems, and, similarly, he has appeared on a host of sheet music covers.  Here’s one such cover for “Le Petit Carnaval” a “quadrille facile,” depicting Mr. Punch among a group of people at a carnival in a tent.

I imagine that Punch would rather enjoy a carnival, and, this is a rather posh carnival in a heavily draped tent, festooned with garlands of flowers and hung with a brilliant chandelier.  The attendees, aside from the clowns, and, of course, Mr. Punch, are attired in court dress.  Punch is greeting an elegant young lady.

This print was created in the mid Nineteenth Century with artwork by John Brandard (1812-1863).

Print of the Day: A Terrier After Frederick William Keyl, c. 1845

Terrier After Frederick William Keyl
1845-1871
The British Museum

This print from a wood engraving by an unknown engraver was published sometime between 1845 and 1871. The subject is a very handsome terrier based on a painting by Frederick William Keyl. 

Object of the Day: “Fair Rosamond” by J. Lewis Marks, 1820

One day, in a small antique store of no great substance, I stumbled upon a rack labeled “Framed Old Prints.” This particular item caught my eye. I could tell that the engraving had been hand-colored after the printing process and was pleased to make out the artist’s name, barely hidden by the frame. “London, by J.L. Marks, 91 Long Lane Smithfield.” I recognized that as being J. Lewis Marks, the famed print publisher of the early Nineteenth Century. I quickly made the purchase.

The colors are remarkably bright and there’s little foxing on this beautiful engraving which still sports its original, beveled, ebonized frame. The subject is the “Fair Rosamond.” Rosamond Clifford (1150-1176)—famed for her beauty—was the mistress of England’s King Henry II. She was known as “Rose of the World.” So many legends and tales surround the beautiful Rosamond, that it’s difficult to separate the fact from the fiction. Some believe that she bore Henry II two sons. Other say she did not. What we do know for a fact is that her adulterous relationship with the King ended badly. Their affair ended in 1174 when the public became aware of it. Henry’s wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, had a lot to do with making sure Rosamond was removed from Henry’s life. The young woman was sent to a nunnery where she died two years later. Her remains were initially buried in Convent Church of Godstow in a tomb paid for by Henry himself. Her tomb became a popular shrine. However, in 1191 (two years after Henry’s death), her remains were moved to a field near the church to show young women that adultery was wrong.

The legend of Fair Rosamond lived on, however. It became a popular theme in Elizabethan culture and continued to be a part of English lore well into the late Victorian period. Many paintings, poems, books and songs were inspired by the tragic beauty of Rosamond Clifford. This water-colored engraving is one of them. In her cobalt blue and violet gown, she looks to the left, eternally entreating those around her to admire her regal beauty.

Antique Image of the Day: A Mezzotint of Queen Mary II, 17th C.

Maria D.G. Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Regina & CT. 
Mezzotint, John Smith
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A mezzotint is a form of tonal engraving made when the surface of a metal plate is pitted with a serrated tool called a “rocker.” The plate is then scraped and smoothed so that different areas of the plate will hold varying quantities of ink depending on the relief. This technique creates a range of rich, textures and tones and white highlights when the image is printed onto the paper.

The print we see here is based on a portrait of Queen Mary II (Who ruled as Sovereign jointly with her cousin/husband King William III and II) which was painted in 1688 by the Dutch painter and engraver Jan van der Vaardt, who moved to England in 1674.

This is the work of one John Smith, a printmaker who is thought to be one of the most important mezzotinters of the Seventeenth Century.

Here, Queen Mary II is depicted as dressed in the height of fashion, in the style set by the French court, wearing a formal mantua of striped and figured silk. Her royal noggin is adorned with an elaborate lace headdress which was called a frelange, with ribbon-bows behind (known as fontanges). The whole ensemble was held up by a wire frame called a commode.

Print of the Day: Le Ieu Mestier Devine, early Nineteenth Century

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Another treasure from the Royal Collection, this engraving, entitled "Le Ieu Mestier Devine," is the work of Nicholas de Larmessin and was published at the Rue St Jacques à la Pomme d'Or, near St Severin, Paris (publisher) in the early Nineteenth Century.

The piece depicts at Commedia dell'Arte play in which three men fall out from under a cloth which is being held by Arlequin and Scaramouche. The doctor, a stock commedia character, on left, watches with amazement. Below the scene, French verses explain what's happening.

Print of the Day: The Three Graces; or the three Bums !!of the O!P!ra, 1810

Click image to get bummed

"Three Graces; or the Three Bums !!of the O!P!ra."
Unknown, 1810
The Beard Collection at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

To be honest, I’ve looked and looked, and can find little explanation as to the meaning of this print. Obviously, it’s a political or social commentary. It’s long associated with similar works by Isaac Cruikshank (ancestor of George) and is often included in published groupings with other satirical drawings of 1790-1810, most of them addressing spies and the foibles of the upper class and those termed macaroni.

Entitled “Three Graces; or the three Bums !!of the O!P!ra,” the etching is hand colored with watercolor and dates 15th February 1810. The publisher is listed as D.C.M. (1700-1900).

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Comet, 1789

A Return of the Comet is expected this Year and to be within our horizon from the month of Octr 1788 to Augt 1789 but is expected to be most -visible (if it forces itself upon our Notice).

"The Comet"
Aquatint by James Sayers, 1789
Version housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum

This aquatint (a printmaking technique like engraving wherein an acid is applied to a metal plate) is entitled “The Comet” and is the work of engraver James Sayers. A satirical piece, Sayers has placed in the composition the Prince of Wales at the time (later the Prince Regent, later still King George IV) at the head of the comet, notable contemporary characters make up its tail.

This piece was published in London by Thomas Cornell. Those pictured behind the future King George IV are: Edmund Burke, Sir Grey Cooper, Edward Stanley Smith the Twelfth Earl of Derby, Charles James Fox, Frederick North the Second Earl of Guilford, Thomas Powys the First Baron of Lilford, William John Kerr the Fifth Marquess of Lothian, David Murray the Second Earl of Mansfield, Charles Howard the Eleventh Duke of Norfolk, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck the Third Duke of Portland, William Douglas the Fourth Duke of Queensberry, Alexander Wedderburn the First Earl of Rosslyn (Lord Loughborough), John Montagu the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Sawbridge, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, John Warren, Richard Watson and Christopher Wilson.

To quote Homer Simpson, “Mmmmm…Fourth Earl of Sandwich.” As for the rest, well, they’re less delicious.

Another version of this piece, located at the V&A, is in the collection of The British Museum. So, what makes this so important that two major museums display it? What’s going on here?

The piece was produced during one of George III’s famous bouts of illness—leading to his famed madness. The King was not expected, at first, to recover and supporters of the randy Prince of Wales expected him to ascend the throne.  However, George III rallied and his eldest boy's followers found that they were no closer to the throne than ever.  Still, the Prince of Wales looked forward to surpassing his rickety father.  This is summed up visual in the drawing we see above.

A comet is cutting through the design diagonally and downwards from the right to the left. The comet’s head is that of the future King George IV surrounded by a star, while the tail contains the heads of his disappointed followers. Immediately after the Prince is the head of Richard Sheridan, with a gloomy expression. Behind him are James Fox, with a melancholy countenance, and an angry Duke of Portland.

After them comes the wig in back view of Lord Loughborough and a host of other disgruntled hangers-on. On the background is etched “A Return of the Comet” which appeared in 1761. The text reads:

A Return of the Comet is expected this Year and to be within our horizon from the month of Octr 1788 to Augt 1789 but is expected to be most -visible {if it forces itself upon our Notice) in the Winter months Febry & March ------ vide Dr Trusslers Almanack


By some of the ancient Astronomers Comets were deemed Meteors kindled in the Air and designed as Presages or unlucky Omens of some disastrous Catastrophe------


The Peripateticks deemed them not permanent Bodies but bodies newly produced and in a short Time to perish again, and affirmed that they were made up of Exhalations in the terrestrial Regions------


Sr Isaac Newton asserts That the Tail of a Comet is nothing else than a fine Vapour which the Head of the Comet emits by its heat that Heat the Comet receives from the Sun and the magnitude of the Tail is always proportional to the degree of heat which the Comet receives, and Comets which are nearest to the Sun have the longest Tails------' 18 February 1789

The version exhibited at The British Museum.

 

Print of the Day: Picturesque Etchings and Other Rural Studies, 1792

Picturesque Etchings and Other Rural Studies
Thomas Rowlandson, 1792
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Every so often, as I've said before, the Royal Collection exhibits something that's not been seen in a very long time, and, in some cases, centuries.  I was excited to see this etching by Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827), a favorite Georgian-era artist of mine, especially since it also touches on one of my favorite subjects.

The hand-colored etching was published in 1792 and depicts a series of seven vignettes of the sorts of people and places which were common to every day life in London at the time.  We see ladies being assisted from their carriage by a Navy Man, a rather stout vicar on horseback, a Punch and Judy show (hooray!), rowers, an assembly of horses, fishermen and a group of soldiers and civilians drinking.

It's hard to say when the print came into the Royal Collection, but it's only recently popped up in the archives.

Detail
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Print of the Day: Toby, the Sapient Pig, 1817

Hand Bill
England, 1817
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I think I should like to have known Toby, the Sapient Pig. Here’s a handbill advertising this porcine performer. It reads:
‘Toby, the Sapient Pig' at the Royal Promenade Rooms, Spring Gardens, Vauxhall 

It is dated in ink, “Saturday March 1 1817.”

Toby was billed as “The greatest Curiosity of the present Day.”

It seems he could:
“SPELL AND READ; CAST ACCOUNTS; PLAY AT CARDS; Tell any Person what o'Clock it is to a Minute, BY THEIR OWN WATCH; ALSO TELL THE AGE OF ANY ONE IN COMPANY; and what is more Astonishing he will Discover a Person's Thoughts, A Thing never heard of before, particularly of so singular an animal, as that of the SWINE RACE.” 

See? He would have been quite a hoot to have around. The image indicates, also, that Toby was a Mason. 

The wood engraving was published by W. Glindon.

Print of the Day: The Ghost of Christmas Present, 1843



The Victoria & Albert Museum



This hand-colo(u)red etching was created for an early edition of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol,” published in 1843, and depicts the scene in which Scrooge's third visitor—The Ghost of Christmas Present—appears.

It was drawn by John Leech (of "Punch Magazine" fame) and published in an edition by Chapman & Hall. The title and artist’s signature are still clearly seen.

History's Runway: Christmas and New Year's Party Fashion Plate, 1875

 

Fashion plates such as this one from the V&A often formed the centerpiece of publications for women—rather, they still do.  This landscape format plate from 1875 is set in a ballroom draped with garlands, and depicts twelve women and 8 small children.  Nine of the women are in party dresses with one small boy in a brown suit.

Two women in the background wear the long-sleeved day dresses which were fashionable at the time, and a third woman wears a formal reception gown with elbow-length sleeves. The others, in their party dresses, show the elaborately bustled and embellished evening gowns with low necklines and short sleeves that dominated the fashions of the 1870s.

One female child in the centre foreground holds a fashionably dressed doll, and another to the far left holds a doll dressed as a Polichinelle (the French version of Mr. Punch).

While the artwork was created in Paris, the piece was published in London, in December 1875, in “The Young Ladies' Journal.”  A descriptive line states:  “Christmas and New Year's Party Fashion Plate December 1875. The Young Ladies' Journal.” 

Mr. Punch in the Arts: The Holiday Letter from School, c. 1850

George Speaight Punch & Judy Archive
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the George Speaight Punch & Judy Archive at the Victoria & Albert Museum, we see an engraving entitled “The Holiday Letter from School - a Boy's Dream of the Coming Christmas,” which rather puts me in mind of the scene from “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” when Magoo as Ebenezer Scrooge sees young Ebenezer singing, “When You’re Alone in the World.”

The engraving is after the painting by Adrien Marie, and was published in the Nineteenth Century. Seated at his desk, the boy writes home, sharing his eagerness to take part in the family’s holiday traditions. He dreams of the joys of Christmas—reuniting with his mother, toys, puddings, feasts, sports and games. Notable is the figure of Mr. Punch at the lower right—riding a croquet mallet.