Details
LEECH, JOHN. A group of nineteen original pencil and watercolor drawings, 17 signed in brown ink (the 2 others possibly signed beneath mats), n.p., n.d., on cream wove paper, matted, unexamined out of mats, sizes of visible area varying from 122 x 154 mm. (4 13/16 x 6 in.) to 76 x 142 mm. (3 x 5 9/16 in.), loose in 3 cloth portfolios, backstrips gilt-lettered, folding cloth box (broken), morocco gilt lettering-piece on backstrip with title "John Leech's Original Caricatures, Plays, Puppies, Musical, 1817-1864", a few small spots, occasional slight soiling. The highly finished drawings comprise 3 suites, as above. At the head of each is a neatly written caption in block letters; most of the drawings in the "Plays" and "Musical" groups have an additional general caption at top in parentheses (others possibly obscured by mats).
CONTENTS
Plays, 3 drawings:
- "As You Like It", a woman serving a man a dish of soup, the Times hanging behind him
- "The Stranger", a scruffy individual holding a 5-pound bank note
- "Fortunes Frolic", a man walking away from the Lottery Office holding a blank ticket
Puppies, 8 drawings, each showing a well-dressed young gentleman with canine features:
- "The Idle Puppy", yawning at a table with a bottle and glass
- "The Impudent Puppy", offering a young woman his arm
- "The Intelligent Puppy taught to fetch & carry", carrying a woman's hat, coat and boots
- "The Conceited Puppy", in dandyish attire and pose, wearing a monocle - "The Short Tailed Puppy", with umbrella
- "The Greedy Puppies", a pair sharing a keg of beer
- "The Lovesick Puppy", on one knee next to the frowning object of his desire
- "The Useful Puppy", fastening a lady's dress
Musical, 8 drawings:
- "You are a fiddle you are a lyre", one of each with legs
- "Jack on the high C's", a drinking sailor perched on two capital Cs in a raging sea
- "A Turn", a fat cook flipping a cake in a pan
- "Forte or Loud", a news crier
- "Piano or Soft", 2 men whispering
- "A Repeat", a sick man with medicine bottle
- "Beating Time", Father time with scythe being overtaken by a locomotive, small tear at upper left
- "A rest", a coffin
Provenance: Maxine and Joel Spitz, bookplate.
CONTENTS
Plays, 3 drawings:
- "As You Like It", a woman serving a man a dish of soup, the Times hanging behind him
- "The Stranger", a scruffy individual holding a 5-pound bank note
- "Fortunes Frolic", a man walking away from the Lottery Office holding a blank ticket
Puppies, 8 drawings, each showing a well-dressed young gentleman with canine features:
- "The Idle Puppy", yawning at a table with a bottle and glass
- "The Impudent Puppy", offering a young woman his arm
- "The Intelligent Puppy taught to fetch & carry", carrying a woman's hat, coat and boots
- "The Conceited Puppy", in dandyish attire and pose, wearing a monocle - "The Short Tailed Puppy", with umbrella
- "The Greedy Puppies", a pair sharing a keg of beer
- "The Lovesick Puppy", on one knee next to the frowning object of his desire
- "The Useful Puppy", fastening a lady's dress
Musical, 8 drawings:
- "You are a fiddle you are a lyre", one of each with legs
- "Jack on the high C's", a drinking sailor perched on two capital Cs in a raging sea
- "A Turn", a fat cook flipping a cake in a pan
- "Forte or Loud", a news crier
- "Piano or Soft", 2 men whispering
- "A Repeat", a sick man with medicine bottle
- "Beating Time", Father time with scythe being overtaken by a locomotive, small tear at upper left
- "A rest", a coffin
Provenance: Maxine and Joel Spitz, bookplate.