JUKES, Francis after Charles Loraine SMITH (1751-1835)

[Set of eight prints featuring Dick Knight of the Pytchley Hunt]

London: Published by F. Jukes Engraver Howland Street, March 1790. Aquatints. Printed on wove Whatman paper, some with watermarks. In excellent condition with the exception of some minor surface soiling in the margins. [Plate 1: Pytchley Hunt] heavy surface soiling in margins. Image size: 7 7/8 x 9 1/4 inches. Plate mark: 9 7/8 x 10 3/8 inches. Sheet size: 12 1/8 x 15 5/8 inches. [Plate 2: Push him up Tomboy] Image size: 7 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches. Plate mark: 9 3/8 x 10 1/8 inches. Sheet size: 12 5/16 x 15 5/8 inches. [Plate 3: Now Contrast..] Image size: 7 5/8 x 9 3/8 inches. Plate mark: 9 5/16 x 10 inches. Sheet size: 12 5/16 x 15 3/8 inches. [Plate 4: A Check] Image size: 7 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches. Plate mark: 9 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches. Sheet size: 12 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches. [Plate 5: The Trick] Image size: 7 13/16 x 9 1/4 inches. Plate mark: 9 7/8 x 10 1/4 inches. Sheet size: 12 1/8 x 15 5/8 inches. [Plate 6: Proof of Bottom] Image size: 7 3/16 x 9 1/2 inches. Plate mark: 9 13/16 x 10 3/8 inches. Sheet size: 12 1/8 x 15 11/16 inches.

A fascinating set of eight hunting prints depicting the great Pytchley hunt led by Dick Knight.

Loraine Smith was an amateur artist of high repute, and the present series is regarded as some of his best-known prints. This important set is the only visual record of the great Pytchley hunt led by the celebrated huntsmen Dick Knight. At the time of publication, there existed a great rivalry between the Quornites and the Pytchley followers, which is wittily referred to in this amusing series. The prints follow the various mishaps and eventual triumph of Dick Knight, and make a point to relate that Knight used three horses during the course of the run in order to achieve his victory. This set of eight prints by Jukes is intriguing since it appears that the series was originally published as a set of six. The present suite has an additional two plates, plate four entitled "The Check" and plate five entitled "The Trick," and has been hastily renumbered as a set of eight. If one examines the plate numbers carefully it is easy to see where the numbers have been doctored, indicating that the set was originally published as a set of six and not of eight as Siltzer suggests.

Siltzer, The Story of British Sporting Prints, p. 251-256.

Item #5234

Price: $2,000.00