G.E. Madeley (d. after 1851) (lithographer)
Performances of Mr. Carter, the American Lion King
Madeley's, London: c. 1839-1847
Hand-colored lithograph
16.25 x 20.75 inches
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Performances of Mr. Carter, the American Lion King
Mid 19th Century Lithograph
Mid 19th Century Lithograph
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A lithograph with four vignette scenes of James Carter (1813?-1847), a circus animal tamer who performed on the London stage from 1839 to 1847 as "Mr. Carter, the American Lion King." Carter’s elaborate act consisted of dramatic scenarios set in exotic locales such as Arabia, Algeria and Afghanistan. The four vignettes here are not captioned, which suggests that rather than advertising a particular engagement, they are a compendium of some of his signature moments. In Afghar, Carter drove a chariot pulled by a lion in a harness across the stage and battled a tiger; quite possibly these are represented in the scenes in the lower left and upper right illustration. The other two illustrations depict a tiger leaping out of a cave toward Carter, and Carter posing with a group of ballerinas as he rests one foot on the back of a docile leopard with a garland in its mouth, as one of the dancers leans over to crown him with laurels.
It is not clear how Carter became a circus performer in London; by 1839 he was being featured in a production titled Afghar at Astley's Royal Ampitheatre. He also performed there in The Lion of the Desert; or, The French in Algiers, where a highlight included being lowered from the ceiling in a balloon basket with a leopard. Carter performed elsewhere in London with another American lion tamer, Isaac Van Amburgh (1808-1865). They created a sensation in shows such as Aslar And Ozines! or, the Lion Hunters Of The Burning Zaara and Mungo Park; or The Arabs Of the Niger, which also featured a fight with a tiger.
G.E. Madeley was a British lithographer, active in the second quarter of the 19th century. Madeley produced prints of genre subjects, topographical prints and straightforward portraits of prominent people, some of which are in the collection of Britain’s National Portrait Gallery.
Full publication information: Drawn & Printed at Madeley's, 3, Wellington St. Strand.
Reference:
Frost, Thomas. Circus Life and Circus Celebrities. London: Chatto and Windus, 1881. pp. 90-91, 110. Online at Archive.org. http://www.archive.org/stream/circuslifecircus00frosuoft/circuslifecircus00frosuoft_djvu.txt (13 September 2011).
Slout, William. "Olympians of the Sawdust Circle: A biographical dictionary of the nineteenth century American circus." Circus Historical Society. October 2005. http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansC1.htm (13 September 2011).