SHAYER, After William J. (1811-circa 1885)

The Meet...; The Return from the Hunt. from a Painting by W.J. Shayer

London: William Spooner, [no date but circa 1842] -1 July 1842. A pair of lithographs, coloured by hand, 'drawn by J.H. Lynch'. (Expert marginal repairs, margin of first plate with imprint shaved. Both prints re-backed). Image size (including text): 16 3/4 x 24 3/8 and 16 3/4 x 24 1/2 inches. Sheet size: 20 5/16 x 27 3/16 and 20 1/2 x 27 1/8 inches.

A marvellously atmospheric pair of images after paintings by the Sussex-born artist, William Shayer.

The first plate ably captures slightly nervous bonhomie with which the members of the hunt greet each other. One rider blows his horn as the pack with the hunt servants make their way through a small hamlet and up the hill towards the meeting place. On the skyline of the hill on the left a further group of riders can be seen making their way towards the meeting point. The hounds in the right foreground are alert, their flags in the air and keen to go off. The second plate presents a bucolic scene: at the end of a successful day in the field, members of the hunt gather outside a local pub, the landlord serves stirrup cup whilst the riders smoke and discuss the day's sport. In the mid-ground the pack is led back to the kennels by the huntsman, followed by a couple of riders and a gentleman lucky enough to have his carriage ready to convey him homewards. Sold as a pair.

Item #6353

Price: $4,500.00