This print is a Georgian hand-coloured etching and aquatint. It was a collaboration between Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) whose expertise at capturing people in his images combined with the mastery of Auguste Charles Pugin (1762-1832) in illustrating architectural detail. Their resulting prints were published by Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834) in The Microcosm of London.
The Microcosm of London was an illustrated record of London’s principal historical buildings. Available by subscription, it appeared in monthly parts between 1808 and 1810, each part featuring four hand-coloured aquatints.
The print shows the interior of a theater with spectators seated on four levels around a central ring. In the ring a man performs on the backs of three horses. Astley's Amphitheatre was located near Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth, London.
Philip Astley created the concept of the modern circus in England. He was a skilled horseman, and learned to ride standing on a horse’s back. He discovered that riding in a circle helped him balance during the trick, and thus he has been credited with inventing the first circus ring. His amphitheatre featured daring horse shows, and clowns musicians and entertainers was also added to the performances, as seen in this print. It was published 1st January 1808 and was engraved by John Hill.
Impressions of this print are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Met in New York. Nice clean impressions do not come up for sale that often. This one has been given a new acid-free window mount. It is all ready to have a frame added by your own picture framers. It is a fine example and you wont be disappointed with it.
Dimensions: The mount size is 35 x 39 cm. The image is 19.5 x 26 cm.
It will be sent to you with Royal Mail Tracked and Signed for Post. It will be very carefully packed to sent to you. This will be applied to your order at the checkout.