Set Of 33 Vanity Fair Cricket Prints

£3,600

Shipping P.O.A. Subject to quotation and will be charged separately.

Category

Artwork, Paintings and Prints

Cricket Artwork, Paintings & Prints

Publisher

Vanity Fair

Reference

31466

Thirty-Three Vanity Fair Cricket Prints.
A wonderful and carefully curated collection of Vanity Fair chromolithographs depicting prominent cricketers and figures associated with the game, each mounted and framed.
Vanity Fair, a British weekly magazine published in London from 1869 to 1914, was renowned for its satirical caricatures of public figures. Each issue included a loose colour lithograph accompanied by a witty biographical sketch (letterpress). The magazine employed a range of artists, the most prolific and celebrated being 'Spy' (Sir Leslie Ward), who worked for the publication for 40 years until its closure.
The exact number of Vanity Fair cricket caricatures is open to interpretation. While 31 individuals are depicted in full cricket attire, others have strong affiliations with the game - such as past MCC Presidents, multi-sport athletes, or patrons of cricket - and are often included at the collector's discretion. The line between cricket and connection can be marginal, and ultimately it's left to the enthusiast of cricketana to determine the boundaries of inclusion.
For instance, 'Oxford Athletics' portrays C.B. Fry in athletic kit. Although not dressed as a cricketer here, Fry is remembered as one of England's greatest all-round sportsmen, excelling in both cricket and football, and remains pre-eminently associated with the former. Similarly, 'Patiala' shows Maharaja Sir Rajinder Singh in polo attire. Known as a fearless horseman, he was also a keen cricketer, maintaining his own cricket team alongside a polo team and a vast stable of racehorses - including hacks, hunters, and pigstickers.

This set includes the following 31 prints in cricket dress:
1. Cricket - W.G. Grace (1877 - Spy)
2. The Demon Bowler - F.R. Spofforth (1878 - Spy)
3. Kent - Lord Harris (1881 - Spy)
4. Australian Cricket - G.J. Bonnor (1884 - Ape)
5. English Cricket - Hon. A. Lyttelton (1884 - Ape)
6. W.W. - W.W. Read (1888 - Lib)
7. Oxford Cricket - H. Philipson (1889 - Spy)
8. Monkey - A.N. Hornby (1891 - Stuff)
9. A Big Hitter - A.E. Stoddart (1892 - Stuff)
10. Sammy - S.M.J. Woods (1892 - Stuff)
11. Yorkshire Cricket - Lord Hawke (1892 - Spy)
12. Ranji - K.S. Ranjitsinhji (1897 - Spy)
13. Hampshire - Capt. E.G. Wynyard (1898 - CG)
14. The Croucher - G.L. Jessop (1901 - Spy)
15. The Lobster - D.L.A. Jephson (1902 - Spy)
16. Bobby - R. Abel (1902 - Spy)
17. A Flannelled Fighter - Hon. F.S. Jackson (1902 - Spy)
18. Repton - Oxford & Somerset - L.C.H. Palairet (1903 - Spy)
19. Yorkshire - G. Hirst (1903 - Spy)
20. Plum - P.F. Warner (1903 - Spy)
21. An Artful Bowler - B.J.T. Bosanquet (1904 - Spy)
22. In His Father's Steps - Lord Dalmeny (1904 - Spy)
23. Tom - T. Hayward (1906 - Spy)
24. Reggie - R.H. Spooner (1906 - Spy)
25. Forty-six Centuries in Eleven Years - J.T. Tyldesley (1906 - Spy)
26. Cricket Christianity - Rev. F.H. Gillingham (1906 - Spy)
27. Father - C.M. Wells (1907 - Spy)
28. A Century Maker - K.L. Hutchings (1907 - Spy)
29. Charlie - C. Blythe (1910 - ALS)
30. A Tested Centurion - J.B. Hobbs (1912 - WH)
31. The Champion County - E.W. Dillon (1913 - Owl)

Frame size of each print is 52 cm high by 38 cm wide.
The Demon Bowler is with letterpress so frame is larger at 51 cm high by 59½ cm wide.

Artists and their Pseudonyms:-
Spy - Sir Leslie Ward
Ape - Carlo Pellegrini
Lib - Liberio Prosperi
Stuff - H.C. Sepping or possibly H.C. Sepping Wright
WH - unknown
CG - Sir francis Carruthers Gould
ALS - unknown
Owl - unknown

Should the collector wish, 'Patiala' is available separately. It is framed and mounted in the same manner as 'The Demon Bowler', complete with letterpress.

Much of the background information used was sourced from The Cricketers of Vanity Fair by Russell March, an invaluable reference for collectors and enthusiasts alike.