Lot 91
91
Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)
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Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

The Broadsticks match

Details
Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)
The Broadsticks match
signed and dated 'Rowlandson. 1788.' (lower left)
pencil, pen and ink and grey, brown and red wash, on two joined sheets
12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7 cm.)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The present watercolour would appear to depict the game of Single Sticks, descended from fighting with quarter-staffs. The game was popular particularly in the West Country until the 1820s. F.W. Hackwood, Old English Sports, London, 1907, p. 186 describes it as follows: 'the object of each gamester ... is to guard himself and to fetch blood from the other's head whether by taking a little skin from his pericranium, drawing the crimson stream from his nose or knocking out a few of his teeth.'

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