
Codie Lyons
Associate Specialist
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US$5,000 - US$7,000
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Associate Specialist
Provenance
Uno Langmann Limited, Vancouver;
Acquired from the above, 2007.
This painting was amongst de Loutherbourg's most famous works, and was the first of a number of depictions of popular amusements which the artist produced between 1776 -1787. In response to the popularity that the painting enjoyed, the artist sent Winter to be used by Matthew Boulton as models for 'polygraphs' or mechanical paintings. The process was established in 1776 as a means of making available, at a low cost, reproductions true to the original's color. To execute a polygraph, an aquatint plate was inked in several colors and transferred with pressure onto a prepared canvas; the copy was then hand finished and varnished. Boulton's mechanical paintings were only produced for four years because the expense of hand finishing made the process uneconomical.
In addition to the present work, other painted replicas produced by de Loutherbourg and his studio are in the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg.
The original composition by Philip James de Loutherbourg is in the Government Art Collection, United Kingdom.