WARD, William after Henry Bernard CHALON

To Sir Mark Masterman Sykes Bart. This Plate of his Fox Hounds Breaking Cover, is with great respect dedicated

York: Published by John Wolstenholme, 1 November 1821. Colour printed mezzotint with added hand colour. Pencil inscription in lower margin identifies the figures in the print. Image size (including text): 21 1/2 x 28 1/4 inches. Sheet size: 25 3/16 x 31 3/8 inches.

This is a lovely impression of this lively hunting print showing the moment when the hounds bound through the bracken and break cover.

Henry Chalon was an accomplished sporting artist whose skill and imagination attracted Royal patronage throughout his career. He exhibited over 190 works at the Royal Academy and prints after his paintings are widely sought after today. This attractive print beautifully exhibits Chalon's skill as a sporting artist and Ward's genius as an engraver. Ward produced some of the most beautiful prints of the period, and his delicate engravings epitomize the style and sentiment of the age. Ward was primarily a mezzotint engraver but he also worked in stipple, executing hauntingly delicate prints that capture the soul and character of their subject. He studied under John Raphael Smith and quickly became one of his most distinguished pupils, incorporating his masters' delicate technique into his own distinctive style. Along with his brother James, William was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and soon earned the privilege of becoming mezzotint engraver to the prince regent. For any print connoisseur the work of William Ward epitomizes the best of English printmaking. His fine technical skill and inspired artistic imagination combine to create enduring images that speak of the taste and beauty of the age.

Siltzer p.93, state ii/ii; Charles Lane British Racing Prints 1990, p.93.

Item #6356

Price: $3,500.00