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Details
AFTER JOHN HAMILTON MORTIMER
Monsieur Masson, the Tennis Player
mezzotint by Brookshaw, (title inscribed "born 1740", in pencil), (trimmed and laid down)
23½ x 17½in. (59.5 x 44cm.), framed and glazed.
Exhibited: "An Exhibition of Tennis and Rackets", The Queen's Club, 9-17 October 2004, no. 109.
Antoine-Henry Masson, often referred to as Raymond, is depicted here in 1769 at the age of 29. Masson was the first of the great players whose achievements are on record. Born in Paris in 1740, he quickly mastered the game of tennis, and by the age of twenty-two he was appointed paumier du roi. He was also paumier to the duc de Chartres', the prince de Condé and the "Enfants de France". Masson has been called the "père des paumiers" and for some thirty years was regarded as champion of the world.
His great rival was Charrier the elder. One of his most famous victories was against Charrier and Clergé, giving them half 15, in front of Louis XV and his court at Fontainebleau. De Manevieux relates (pp. 140-41) that he played matches of astonishing difficulty against amateurs, in one case having to jump in and out of a barrel on both the service side and the grille side before playing his shots, and in another being mounted on an unshod donkey which he guided with a bridle; when playing, he wore spectacles.
Masson kept two courts in Paris, one in the Rue Grenelle Saint-Honoré, and one in the Rue Mazarine. His wife played tennis, and de Manevieux remarks that at the age of twenty-eight Mme. Masson too was a skilful player. In 1767 the Courrier d'Avignon reports Masson visiting London and defeating the strongest English players. It is thought Masson's portrait was painted by Mortimer at this time, when it is also likely he was alluded to as "The Frenchman" in Holcroft's Road to Ruin. Henderson p. 186.
Monsieur Masson, the Tennis Player
mezzotint by Brookshaw, (title inscribed "born 1740", in pencil), (trimmed and laid down)
23½ x 17½in. (59.5 x 44cm.), framed and glazed.
Exhibited: "An Exhibition of Tennis and Rackets", The Queen's Club, 9-17 October 2004, no. 109.
Antoine-Henry Masson, often referred to as Raymond, is depicted here in 1769 at the age of 29. Masson was the first of the great players whose achievements are on record. Born in Paris in 1740, he quickly mastered the game of tennis, and by the age of twenty-two he was appointed paumier du roi. He was also paumier to the duc de Chartres', the prince de Condé and the "Enfants de France". Masson has been called the "père des paumiers" and for some thirty years was regarded as champion of the world.
His great rival was Charrier the elder. One of his most famous victories was against Charrier and Clergé, giving them half 15, in front of Louis XV and his court at Fontainebleau. De Manevieux relates (pp. 140-41) that he played matches of astonishing difficulty against amateurs, in one case having to jump in and out of a barrel on both the service side and the grille side before playing his shots, and in another being mounted on an unshod donkey which he guided with a bridle; when playing, he wore spectacles.
Masson kept two courts in Paris, one in the Rue Grenelle Saint-Honoré, and one in the Rue Mazarine. His wife played tennis, and de Manevieux remarks that at the age of twenty-eight Mme. Masson too was a skilful player. In 1767 the Courrier d'Avignon reports Masson visiting London and defeating the strongest English players. It is thought Masson's portrait was painted by Mortimer at this time, when it is also likely he was alluded to as "The Frenchman" in Holcroft's Road to Ruin. Henderson p. 186.
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