Billing Antiques

CHANTRY FINE ARTS HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS SELLING AT MAJOR ANTIQUES FAIRS INCLUDING THE NEC AND
THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL HALL IN LONDON.

WE SPECIALISE IN FINE ARTS, MINIATURES, WATER COLOURS, PENCIL DRAWINGS & SKETCHES, PEN & INK AND 'OBJETS D'ART' AS WELL AS SMALL AND LARGE OIL WORKS - UP TO AND INCLUDING - LARGE PORTRAITS.
Billing Antiques is a subsidiary of Chantry Fine Arts 
ENGRAVINGS
THOMAS ROWLANSON (1756-1857)
THE ENGLISH DANCE OF DEATH
1816

Rowlandson was perhaps the most gifted satirical artist of the late 18th and early 19thc.      His personal rather dissolute lifestyle gave him insights into human nature that his contemporaries, Gillray, Hogarth and Cruikshank never quite matched.     His drawing skills surpassed them.
His major satirical works were made in collaboration with William Coombe (Doctor Syntax) and the publishers Ackermanns.     They include the various Doctor Syntax series, The Microcosm of London, and perhaps the greatest, The English Dance of Death.     Rowlandson created the images and engraved the plates from them, passing them to Ackermanns for hand colouring and publishing.
The English Dance of Death was published in two volumes.     The first in 1815 and  the second in 1816. 
We recently acquired a large section of the first edition of Volume 2  with 21 of the original hand coloured engravings.      We are offering these singly together with the relevant poems written for them by William Coombe.    The poems are taken from the volume itself and are nearly all complete, but a few which were printed on both sides have had facsimiles added to complete them.     
They have been mounted within acid free board and show the satirical annotation underneath. 
    This example is entitled "The Churchyard Debate"    and the annotation reads "T'is strange but true in this world's Strife, That Death affords the means of Life"
The top of the mount covers the Ackermann attribution which states "Pub 1st Oct 1816 by Ackermann's 101 The Strand"      They are in fine to very fine condition.   

Size 4 1/2" x  8" (11cm x 20cm),
(Stock 6047)













5 1/2