Breaking Cover 1839 Very Rare Original Hand Coloured Fox Hunting Aquatint Etching Artist Henry Alken Engraver Thomas Sutherland

A VERY RARE AND IMPRESSIVELY WELL PRESENTED ANTIQUE ORIGINAL COLOUR PRINTED AND HAND-COLOURED AQUATINT HUNTING PRINT IN AN EXCELLENT STATE OF PRESERVATION. 
 
THE SCENE LETTERED WITH THEIR TITLE BREAKING COVER BENEATH AND PUBLICATION DETAILS "R ALKEN DELT. / ENGR BY T. SUTHERLAND / LONDON PUB BY W DEECY 6 PLEASANT PLACE PENTONVILLE 1839.
 
"Breaking Cover" depicts the stage of a hunt when the fox has broken cover and emerged suddenly from a place of concealment and now the chase is on. The fox is not actually shown in the engraving but the huntsmen and hounds are on its trail.
 
OVERALL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION FOR ITS AGE AND ONE OF THE MOST COLOURFULL AND BEST PRESERVED ANTIQUE ETCHINGS I HAVE SEEN.
 
PART OF HENRY ALKEN'S FAMOUS SERIES OF FOX HUNTING SCENES DEPICTING THE VARIOUS STAGES OF A FOX HUNT showing hunters wearing their scarlet coats with top hats and yellow gloves. THESE COLOURED AQUATINTS ARE VERY RARE (PLEASE SEE ONLINE LISTINGS AND PRICES), ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC (PLEASE SEE PHOTOS).
 
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds, and a group of unarmed followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback. Hunting was at the social centre of life within the upper class that brought camaraderie to the British gentry. The riders are traditionally dressed in top hats and red hunt coats.
 
MATCHING PERIOD OLD TRUE WOODEN FRAME WITH GLASS IN FRONT AND HANGING WIRE AT BACK. PLEASE NOTE I CANNOT GUARANTEE THE GLASS DOES NOT BREAK IN TRANSIT WITH COURIERS. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE PLEASE ARRANGE FOR COLLECTION AT MY HOME.
 
SIZE: FRAME 75CM WIDE 57CM HIGH
AQUATINT 57CM WIDE 40CM HIGH
 
CONDITION: Some minor age discolouration, foxing, fading, and dark spots staining. However, most of these effects are located to boarder and outer edges and not the actual central picture. OVERALL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION FOR ITS AGE AND ONE OF THE MOST COLOURFULL AND BEST PRESERVED ANTIQUE ETCHINGS I HAVE SEEN.
 
MARKINGS:
R. Alken del (Deecy Publisher Mistype H Alken)
Engr by T Sutherland
London Pub by W Deecy 6 Pleasant Place Pentonville 1839
 
DRAWN BY HENRY ALKEN (1781-1851):
Henry Thomas was an English painter and engraver chiefly known as a caricaturist and illustrator of sporting subjects and coaching scenes. His most prolific period of painting and drawing occurred between 1816 and 1831. He was the third son of Samuel Alken, a sporting artist. Two of his brothers were George and Samuel Alken the Younger were also artists. Alken married Maria Gordon and fathered five children, of whom two were also artists, Samuel Henry, also a sporting artist, known as Henry Alken junior, and Sefferien junior. FROM ABOUT 1816 ONWARDS ALKEN "PRODUCED AN UNENDING STREAM OF PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND ENGRAVINGS OF EVERY TYPE OF FIELD AND OTHER SPORTING ACTIVITY," AND HIS SOFT-GROUND ETCHINGS WERE OFTEN COLORED BY HAND. When Alken was 26, he and his young family lived over a shop in Haymarket that belonged to print publisher Thomas McLean of the "Repository of Wit and Humour." McLean paid Alken a daily wage of thirty shillings, considered a good income at the time. Alken died in April 1851 and was buried on the western side of Highgate cemetery. ALTHOUGH FAIRLY AFFLUENT FOR MOST OF HIS CAREER, HE FELL ON HARD TIMES TOWARDS THE END OF HIS LIFE AND WAS BURIED AT HIS DAUGHTER'S EXPENSE.

ENGRAVED BY THOMAS SUTHERLAND (1785-1838)
Thomas Sutherland was a prominent aquatint engraver who specialised in sporting, coaching, naval and military subjects, as well as topographical views. His engravings were generally made after the designs of contemporary artists. His best known works are some of the 105 illustrations to Rudolf Ackermanns The Microcosm of London (completed in three volumes in 1810). Sutherland also produced a series of prints based on the Peninsular Battles of 1808 to 1814. He lived and worked in London.
 
PUBLISHER W DEECY (1810-18??):
British printer and publisher 6 Pleasant Place, Pentonville, London. 
 
AQUATINT:
Like etching, aquatint uses the application of a mordant (acid) to etch into the metal plate. Where etching uses a needle to scratch through an acid-proof resist and make lines, aquatint uses powdered rosin (resin) to create a tonal effect. It's called "aquatint" as the prints often resemble watercolour paintings.

PLEASE ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED. I HAVE ANOTHER ANTIQUE HAND COLOURED FOX HUNTING ENGRAVED PRINT BY ALKEN ON AUCTION THIS WEEK. COPY THE URL UNDERNEATH AND PASTE INTO GOOGLE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO ALL MY LISTINGS THIS WEEK. NOTE ALL MY AUCTIONS END AT 22H30 SO IT IS ADVISABLE TO PUT IN AN AUTOMATIC BID (HIGHEST PRICE YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY) EARLY.
https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/seller/3685641/ErnRex1545