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GRAHAM, After John (1754-1817)
A Lioness that Whelp'd in the Tower of London
London: published by Philip Dawe, October 2, 1796. Coloured mezzotint by George Dawe. Image size (including text): 18 13/16 x 23½ inches. Sheet size: 20½ x 25 1/3 inches.
A fine example of this very rare image, which provides a reminder of the fact that for much of its history the Tower of London housed a royal menagerie
John Graham is known chiefly as a history painter: he attended the Royal Academy schools, and exhibited there between 1780 and 1797. The following year he accepted a post as head of the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh, where he died in 1817. George Dawe (1781-1829) was the son of Philip Dawe (the publisher of the present work) who taught him mezzotint engraving. He continued to concentrate on engraving (mostly portraits) from when he entered the Royal Academy Schools in London in 1796 until 1802, when he turned to history painting. In 1803 he won a gold medal and the following year made his dèbut at the Royal Academy, where he exhibited until 1818, often showing anecdotal and literary works. He was elected an ARA in 1809 and an RA in 1814 and soon afterwards returned to portrait painting. The practice of keeping exotic animals in the Tower was established during the reign of King John, there were lions in the the collection by 1243, the first elephant arrived in 1255, and animals were kept at the Tower continously until the collection was merged with the Regent's Park Zoo in the 1830's. Towards the end of the 18th century Lions bred quite successfully in the Tower and there was a tradition of naming the cubs after famous people or royalty: the two cubs in the present image were apparently named 'Miss Fany Howe' and 'Miss Howe' because they were born on 1 June 1794, the date of Earl Howe's great sea victory over the French
Cf. G. Parnell The Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London (1999) pp.18-19 (illustration)
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#3918 $12,000.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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