After William Powell Frith, R.A.
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After William Powell Frith, R.A.

The Race For Wealth: The Spider and the Flies; The Spider at Home; Victims; Judgement; and Retribution

Details
After William Powell Frith, R.A.
The Race For Wealth: The Spider and the Flies; The Spider at Home; Victims; Judgement; and Retribution
the second plate before title and signed 'W.P. Frith' (lower left)
photogravure by Goupil & Co.
S. 19½ x 23in. (49.5 x 58.5cm) (5)
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve. No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The first scene of Frith's Hogarthian narrative presents the Spider drawing innocent members of the public into his fraudulent schemes. The series goes on to show the Spider entertaining at home. The third depicts an honest family destroyed by their father's investment in one of the Spider's schemes. Scenes four and five finally present the Spider's fall from grace as he is tried in court and sent to Millbank Penitentiary.

The Race for Wealth series hangs in the Baroda Museum in India. They are illustrated in C. Wood William Powell Frith - A Painter and his World, London, 2006, chapter 17, pp. 191-200.

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