작품 상세

TENNIEL, JOHN. (1820-1914). British artist known for his political cartoons in Punch and his illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Signed cartoon. (“JT”). 1p. 4to. N.p., 1896. In pencil. The original frontispiece illustration for Punch Volume CX signed with Tenneil’s initials in the lower left corner and dated in his hand. In the cartoon Mr. Punch leads a crowd cheering the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII, 1841-1910) with his victorious racehorse Persimmon at his first Epsom Derby on June 3, 1896, marking the first royal win in more than a century. Trained at the Royal Academy of Arts, Tenniel started his professional career as a book illustrator in 1842. A few years later, he won a contest to design a mural for the Waiting Hall in the House of Lords. His long and influential career as a cartoonist for the humor and satire magazine Punch began in 1850 and lasted nearly 50 years, during which he penned thousands of political cartoons often relying on his photographic memory. However, it is undoubtedly his memorable illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There that brought him lasting fame. Our illustration shows the Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and the heir to the throne, after his horse, Persimmon, won the famous Derby Stakes at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey. “This victory, the first royal win for more than a century, was met with ‘tremendous enthusiasm’ as the Prince later led his colt through the crowd; the cheering lasting for a full quarter of an hour,” (“Major Godfrey Douglas Giles Persimmon winning the Derby at Epsom,” Royal Collection Trust, www.rct.uk/collection/404338/persimmon-winning-the-derby-at-epsom). The event was widely followed by the public and media and portrayed by numerous artists. Film footage of the 1896 Derby was processed overnight and shown to audiences in London the next day making it one of the earliest newsreels. Our cartoon appeared as the frontispiece for Punch’s Volume CX (110) commencing on January 4, 1896 and concluding with the June 27, 1896 issue. Tenniel’s illustration of Punch tipping his hat to the Prince atop his horse entitled “A Derby Favourite” appears in the June 6, 1896 issue. A bound copy of the 1896 Punch magazines is included. In excellent condition and uncommon.