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The slack rope

Maker

(artist)
1775-1831

Title

The slack rope

Date of Production

(circa) 1821

Medium

graphite, pen and grey and brown inks, watercolour on wove paper
Verso: left upper edge, cut off: “[...]MAN” (probably “J. WHATMAN”).

Dimensions

Height: 22.1 cm
Width: 31.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.6

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Atkinson’s fascination with the variety of types to be found on the London streets culminated in a series of drawings of popular entertainments, of which this composition is one. Performing animals were commonly shown to the public. Typically Atkinson has included people from diverse backgrounds, and the crowd has been grouped together in an orderly fashion far removed from the active characters generally depicted in the street scenes of William Hogarth.

Notes

This drawing is part of a series of drawings of popular entertainments apparently intended to be published as prints; only one (Figures before a Punch and Judy Show) was published.

Provenance

Gilbert Davis, London (1899-1983); William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967); Spooner Bequest 1967

Exhibition History

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006

English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe
Spooner, Harrogate, 1968

Literature

English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe Spooner, Harrogate, 1968
cat. no. 30

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 56
ill. on p. 185

Inscriptions

Inscription: Mount (removed), Verso: graphite: "Slack Rope".

Collector's mark: none.

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