Aquatint, Lithograph, and the Instant · The Sporting Print
Extraordinary Steeple-Chase
Henry Thomas Alken, hand-coloured aquatint, c.1830s · hand-coloured aquatint
What it is
Riders and horses fling themselves at hazard after hazard across an exaggerated stretch of country, one obstacle piled on the next.
Why it matters
Alken worked as often in comedy as in accuracy, and this print belongs to his satirical side — the real dangers of early steeplechasing stretched toward farce for a public that found the sport half-thrilling, half-absurd.
What to notice
at least one rider already parting company with his horse mid-air.
Comedy still needs a real fence to work.
Provenance
- Maker
- Henry Thomas Alken, hand-coloured aquatint, c.1830s
- Era
- The Georgian Turf (1750–1837)
- Chapter
- The String at Full Stretch
- Medium
- hand-coloured aquatint
- Made
- 1830
- Source
- Aberdeen Art Gallery (ABDAG005975)
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-20.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan's resolution doesn't clear our floor for a physical print, so this piece is offered as a digital download only.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Steeplechasing — The Start
‘Elis’, Winner of the St Leger, 1836
Fores’s National Sports — The Run In
The Trotting Mare Nancy Hanks
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.