Billiards

Details

After Henry William Bunbury (1750-1811)
Billiards
stipple engraving, 1780, on laid paper, published by Watson and Dickinson, London, framed; with another of the same subject, stipple engraving, published by Bretherton, London, each in a Scottish Victorian oak frame, one labelled R. Stewart, 39 St John Street and 18 Princes Street, Perth and inscribed in pencil M.H.M. Murray
S. 299 x 394 mm. (2)

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

Henry William Bunbury was perhaps the most celebrated amateur social caricaturist of his time and his contemporary reputation ranked him alongside the now more familiar names of Rowlandson and Gillray. His popularity lay in his skills in depicting humorous incidents of everyday burlesque life, and particularly of sporting subjects. The 1770-80s, around the time when Bunbury created the present two engravings, saw the height of the version of Billiards known as 'the winning and losing carambole game' which was a combination of three different versions which, by the early 1800s, would be condensed into what is now the popular form of Billiards.

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