Samuel Alken
Coursing Scene
Watercolour on green-grey wove paper
Probably a contemporary copy of a rabbiting plate
Bears signature to bottom left
25 x 42 cm
Samuel Alken Jr. (1784–1825) was a British artist and engraver, part of the prominent Alken family of painters and engravers, known for their sporting and hunting scenes. He was the son of Samuel Alken Sr. and contributed significantly to the family’s artistic legacy. Like his father, Alken Jr. worked primarily in engraving and painting, specialising in aquatint and other printmaking techniques.
Inkeeping with family tradition, Alken Jr. often depicted sporting subjects such as horse racing, hunting, and other outdoor pursuits in his engravings and paintings. As such, his works have been praised for their dynamic composition and attention to detail.
This particular edition depicts a trio of men poaching rabbits in the countryside. One dog buries into the rabbit burrow, another dog waits eagerly for its master’s command, other dogs rush around, excited by the kill. The painting originally featured in ‘Delineations of British Field Sports – Together with the various methods of painting. A series published by Alken’s in 1822, the coloured issue ranks as one of the rarest sporting books of the period. There is only one record of a second coloured copy, which is ‘untraceable’ according to Schwerdt. Schwerdt also notes that the vigorous style of these plates made them eminently suitable for framing, and accounts in part for their rarity; ‘twenty years’ search has not enabled us to make up a complete set’.
Condition: Probably a contemporary copy of the rabbiting plate.
If you would like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.
